1.Keep accounts of your joyfulness-
There are many things and challenges going in the world. Some things will happen, some things won’t happen, some things will act for us, something will work against us, these things are happening all the time.
But am I functioning for myself or against myself. Within this, is my life a little more exuberant, a little more better, joyful, peaceful? you just measure this everyday. Maintain an everyday account and see whether you are progressing or going down.
For example, let’s say that yesterday you were happy 5 times a day and today if you are six times better than yesterday. But the day after you come down to four then you are worse. Ask yourself how many moments of joy do you have in your life?
Answers would be few as we all are surrounded with new problems and challenges each day. What is joy? Joy is a measure of happiness. It means you are at an ease in your life. Joy means you are becoming more of life than being a mental mess.
It doesn’t mean that you attained something. It simply means life has come to ease you from messing yourself up. Before going to bed, spend 5 minutes thinking, have I been better today than yesterday? has my day been better? Everyday you will keep accounts you will see no matter what the hell happens in life situations you will not go down.
2.Eating with gratitude-
Whatever you do in your life should be done consciously. It includes consumption of food and the selection of food you do. More than what you eat and how you eat it is also equally important. When I say how you eat it, these are all live substances.
Everyone has a life of their own, whether it’s plant, animal ,vegetable, if you approach it with a certain sense of gratitude and reverence towards the food that you eat, it will benefit you more.
For example let’s say you are close in a room for 5 days and have nothing to eat and suddenly god appears in front of you what will you wish for ? obviously for food so that’s how important it is. You must understand the food on your plate is not just a substance, it’s not a material, not a commodity, it’s a life.
It’s the life making material for you. You should be grateful for it. Right now when it’s on plate, when it’s out there, it has no value. But the moment you consume it and it becomes your flesh and blood, now suddenly it’s of immense value. Why do we live like this? it’s very important when it comes on your plate itself, you must treat it as a part of yourself. With the great reverence you must consume. Just the way you consume it, if you change that, food will behave differently within you.
3.Connecting with the earth-
The soil that you walk upon has a certain sense of intelligence and memory, so even if you live in a concrete jungle, it is important to keep in touch with the earth upon which you live.
Create some ways for yourself to somehow remain in touch with the soil or earth upon which you live that part of the earth. With your bare hands and bare feet, see particularly the palms and the soles, if they come in touch with the earth on a daily basis at least for a few minutes.
A certain harmonizing of the physiological process will happen just being in contact with the earth. If you spend at least a few minutes in your garden ,barefooted, touching plants or trees because this is the basis of your life. All your and every other creature has come out of this earth, stay in touch with it and harmonize your system.
4.Wake up with a smile-
One thing is before you go to bed, just sit in your bed for just two minutes. Two minutes just see suppose you are going to die right now in two minutes time, how it will be and then sleep. You will see tomorrow when you wake up, you will wake up like you are just born. You will wake up with a completely new dimension of energy within you.
So in case you wake up tomorrow check for yourself that you are alive and have a big smile on your face. Then check around you 4-5 people who are close to you if they are also alive then a more big smile. It might sound a joke to some of you but it’s a reality that nearly 3000,000 people don’t wake up tomorrow.
After these 3000,000 million people there are 3-5million people who would have lost somebody who’s dear to them. So from now onwards whenever you see the time and you are alive then give a big smile to yourself. It is because this is the greatest thing happening to you. Nothing will matter if you are not alive this is the most important thing.
5.Make the best new year resolution-
Your ability to live well on this plant is essentially how well you can harness this body and this mind. So if you have to harness this the way you want it, it’s very important there is a little space between you and the body.
Whatever suffering, any kind of suffering that you have known in your life, has entered either through the body or through the mind. If the little distance arises between you and the body and between you and the mind this is the end of suffering. Once there is no suffering, only then you will explore the full depth dimension of this life. So one of the resolutions that you take for the new year is “I meditate”.
Conclusion-
These were the 5 things one should definitely do everyday to make the best year of your life. Once you start doing this it will naturally become your habit. It will also improve your upcoming future & will be more exciting, easy and full of joy. From this blog we got to understand that there are only 2 most important things in our life. Firstly is that we are alive. Secondly is our mental peace without any suffering. If a person has these two things no matter what happens in his life, he will easily overcome through all the hurdles.
(Source-5 Tips For A Joyful & Successful 2021- by Sadhguru)