We all want to be happy all the time and it can be accomplished with following seven practices:

• The first, prioritising happiness. We sacrifice happiness for the sake of insignificant things and then we wonder why we are unhappy. We ignore things that make us unhappy say a better dress that is difficult to afford to a simple dress.

• The second, chasing superiority. The belief that the secret to happiness is being superior to others. So we start chasing superiority. We want to be the richest, strongest, fastest, most powerful, attractive, most famous, etc.

• The third, being needy, or its opposite, being avoidant or too asocial. We all want to be in healthy, loving, nurturing relationships. But sometimes, this desire can be expressed in ways that are unhealthy.

• The fourth, being overly controlling. Many of us feel that the reason we are not happy is because our kids don’t obey our orders or because the weather is not as warm as we want it to be and so on. As a result, we end up trying too hard to control other people or to control the outcomes that we want. And this in turn, lowers our happiness levels.

• The fifth and the sixth, distrusting others and distrusting outcomes respectively. Both share the common theme of distrust. But one of them has to do with distrusting people, while the other has to do with distrusting the outcomes and events that happen in life. It means looking at your glass, and thinking that it is half empty rather than half full.

• The seventh, inability to tap the source within. All of us have a source of happiness right within us. A source that is accessible to us at all times, if we to tap into it. This source is the state of mindfulness, which is the ability to focus attention, but in a sort of a kind and non-judgmental way. This is true even when we are experiencing something unpleasant. Say we have just gotten into an accident. Even in these types of situations we are likely to be happier when we are mindful. Meditation practice can help us to develop mindfulness.

You may practice these seven essentials and be happy in life.

– Prof. (Dr.) N. K. Garg