" One of the heavenly days
that cannnot die "
Wordsworth.
Happy and healthy living
is living happily everyday. When the day’s work is
done forget the whole thing and be done with it. Do not
worry about any mistakes you might have committed. It is
done and can never be undone; hence there is no point in
crying over it. You may learn a lesson or two from your
mistakes, but try not to repeat the same.
A man who learns to live everyday will live happily as
long as he lives. Bernard Shaw was right in saying "
Do not try to live for ever, you will not succeed ".
Many suffer even bodily discomfort because of worrying
about the unborn tomorrows. The dead yesterday is gone
for ever and the tomorrow is yet to be born. The only
reality is today; if you live well today, you will have
lived happily everyday. What are the secrets of living
happily everyday? At the end of each day be done with it.
Follow the golden rules given below to help you cope with
daily living.
Positive Thinking:-
Start the day with meditation to instill only
positive thoughts into your system. Deep slow breathing,
using the diaphragm, called " belly button breathing
", will soothe your nerves. Sitting quietly or lying
in bed with loose clothes and empty stomach, one can
learn to breathe slowly, counting four while holding the
breath in and counting eight while holding the breath
exhaled, will give you a rate which is very comfortable.
Doing this for five minutes will make you tranquil and at
that time you may repeat to yourself that the day is
going to be a happy one and you will be able to
contribute positively this day. This may go on for
another five minutes. Optimism is the best bet to
happiness.
Exercise for
Happiness:-
Regular exercise will also assist the mind to rest
well. Half an hour a day or even thrice a week of outdoor
exercise, preferably walking at one’s own pace,
enjoying Nature on the way, is the best exercise. Walking
up and down gradients is still better. Jogging and
running are bad. Bouts of strenuous exercise are also bad
for the heart. Worrying about missing a session of
exercise is not good, as the latter will build enough
tension in the mind to destroy your happiness.Swimming is
good if one is used to it.
Food for Thought:-
Nourishing food is another factor of good health.
Small frequent meals are good. Do not skip a meal. Avoid
heavy fat laden food. Avoid fried food. Meat is not good
but is not taboo. Fresh vegetables and fruits should form
the bulk of your diet. Fat intake should be kept below
30% of the total intake. All oils are good in moderation
but not in fried state. Animal fat is very bad. Butter is
better than refined oils or margarine. One teaspoon of
butter contains only 15 mg of cholesterol. Coconut oil is
not bad, and has no cholesterol. Avoid refined oils and
use fresh oil only. Nuts are good in small quantities as
they contain lot of magnesium, good for the heart.
Drinking lot of water ( 8-10 tumblers a day ) is good.
Coffee, tea and other beverages are not good, but are not
poison in small quantities.Soft drinks are very bad as
they have lot of calories and also plenty of caffeine.
One must have at least four small meals a day at regular
intervals.
Rest:-
Sleep is the best tonic to rejuvinate the system for
work again. As age advances the need for sleep decreases.
Six to eight hours should be enough for most of us, but
many of us can manage with four hours also. Worrying
about not sleeping is worse than not sleeping at all. In
the hot climate a small ( half an hopur ) nap in the
afternoon is good for health. Early to bed and early to
rise is a good age old adage. History is replete with
examples of people who have worked very hard with short
breaks in between, without the need for long bouts of
sleep. Both Napolean and Churchill were said to take
short naps in between heavy work.
Comraderie:-
Good friends can be a great asset in daily living.
True friendship should be an end in itslef and not a
means to an end; it needs lot of giving and very little
taking. Compassion is the best bet for a happy and
healthy life. Well knit family and good friends are an
insurance against disease. Studies have shown that
unmarried people have higher resting heart rates and
higher average blood pressures and are also said to have
higher incidence of anginal chest pains.
Mental Outlook:-
Patience in what we do gives us happiness. Hurry
leads to worry, and destroys the mental peace. Most
problems in life get solved if one has enough patience.
To have patience one must have faith. Even the western
thinking now seems to be going in this diredction. People
who are believers have less physical and mental diseases
compared to non believers. God has been the best doctor
in saving millions of peoples lives. Severe depression is
the most important cause of suicidal death and faith is
protective against severe depression. Total surrender to
God saves you from the feeling of depression and be the
best psychotherapy even in the modern world. The age old
ideas of Freudian psychology have developed cracks in
them and do not serve the purpose anymore. Faith is the
best preventive against unhappiness and consequent
physical disabilities.
Laughter:-
Laughter is the best tonic for good health and
happinss. It is only human beings that have been bestowed
with the capacity to laugh. As Milton said " If I
laugh, ’tis because I do not weep". Good hearty
laughter stimulates the secretion of useful endorphins
which elevate the mood and boost the morale to keep you
happy. There are humour clubs in some of the western
hospitals for the benefit of patients. Norman Cousins, a
famous American journalist, was admitted to Harvard
Medical School Hospital, with an incurable disease.All
his doctor friends there had predicted a very dismal
outlook for him. Having accidentally discovered that a
bout of laughter brought some relief to him, his friends
got all the humour movies to his hospital room. He
quickly made complete recovery and wrote a book "
Anatomy of an Illness." He was later invited to be
the Professor of human behaviour at the University of
California medical College. Laughter, in addition, also
relaxes muscles. Many of us suffer aches and pains all
over , mainly because of the muscles of the body getting
tensed up while we go through difficult periods in our
daily life. If we have a means of relaxing those muscles
we will get rid of our aches and pains very easily.
Forgiveness:
Ayurveda, the great Indian system medicine, has this
good advice for all of us. " Have the capacity to
forgive others, and you will be healthy". Nothing
could be as important as this aspect of our life. Disease
and disability, to a great extent, are due to our
incapacity to forgive our enemies. The minute you decide
to forgive someone you get the relief immediately. New
classification of human beings is being done byu experts
and there is a class called the "D type" or the
distressed type where the basic underlying trait is
hotility. The old classification into A,B, and C have
been given up. The best preventive measure to avoid
hostility is to cultivate the art of forgiving.
Contentment:-
Finally, at the end of the day, it is the
contmentment that gives you happiness. If one looks up in
life there is no happiness at all. There is always
something better than what one has, but if one looks down
there are millions of people who are worse than us. The
common saying goes " I had a pain in my leg until I
saw a man without legs at all". Ishopanishad has the
best advice-"Enjoy what you have and never be
greedy." How true and how nice. If all of us try to
live everyday happily this world will be a happier place
for all. Even if ten percent of people in an area become
tranquil, it is estimated that crime rate in that area
goes down by more than fifty per cent.
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