Shri Jagat Singh Bisht
(Master Teacher: Happiness & Well-Being, Laughter Yoga Master Trainer, Author, Blogger, Educator, and Speaker.)
Authored six books on happiness: Cultivating Happiness, Nirvana – The Highest Happiness, Meditate Like the Buddha, Mission Happiness, A Flourishing Life, and The Little Book of Happiness. He served in a bank for thirty-five years and has been propagating happiness and well-being among people for the past twenty years. He is on a mission – Mission Happiness!
☆ Positive Education # 06: Positive Relationships ☆
The richest source of happiness
“Friendship doubles joy and cuts grief in half. The number-one predictor of well-being is not money or prestige, not success or accolades, but rather the time we spend with people we care about and who care about us.”
Tal Ben-Shahar
You can be happier if you cultivate good relationships with your family, friends and even strangers whom you meet in your day-to-day life. A warm greeting, an authentic conversation and a goodbye full of loving care can work wonders.
Do you know that the richest source of happiness in life are other people? If we could build good relationships with them, we would be much happier.
Just close your eyes for a while and think of the happiest moments of your life. Probably, you will find yourself surrounded by people – friends, family, and well-wishers.
Human beings derive a lot of joy from good company. Everything seems to be in sync when we are in between our own folks. One feels relaxed and assured.
Some of the most intense and meaningful experiences in people’s lives are the result of family relationships.
Our behaviour toward other people – colleagues, family members, friends – sends out ripples that impact those we meet, and beyond. Always choose to spread calm, warmth, and loving kindness. Be nice. Be kind towards others.
Whenever you feel down and low, just go out and help someone. Even a small act of kindness lifts your mood and makes you feel good.
Scientists have found that doing a kindness produces the single most reliable momentary increase in well-being of any exercise they have tested.
According to George Vaillant, the master strength is the capacity to be loved. Is there someone in your life whom you would feel comfortable phoning at four in the morning to tell your troubles to? If your answer is yes, you will live longer than someone whose answer is no.
Family and Friends
Play like a child when you are playing with children. Become fully involved with them. Be like them, get into their mindset. Parenting gives you unlimited opportunity to be playful, creative, and affectionate. Do not miss the precious moments of your life. Spend good time with children.
Elders and parents need your attention too. Be understanding and patient with them. Spend quality time with them, keeping away all the gadgets for some time. They are full of wisdom and experiences of life. Listen to them patiently. Give them your love.
Our family and friends are treasures that we should cherish. Always keep in close touch. Include them in your moments of happiness. Celebrate their moments of success with joy as if the success was your own and feel as joyous as them.
As social animals we need friends. Friendships are made based on trust and warm-heartedness. Be warm and trust others.
Never utter any words that may hurt anyone, no deed of yours should harm anyone, and you should not think ill of others even in your dreams. Say sorry and forgive others with a large heart. Accept people for what they are.
Dalai Lama says, “Even more important than the warmth and affection we receive, is the warmth and affection we give. It is by giving warmth and affection, by having a genuine sense of concern for others, in other words through compassion, that we gain the conditions for genuine happiness.”
Happy people are good at their friendships, families, and intimate relationships.
Friendships do not just happen, they are made. One prominent psychologist suggests that the magic number is to have three friends or companions you can really count on.
Lyubomirsky says, “Show interest in other people and offer them encouragement. Once a friendship forms, create rituals that allow you to get together and be in touch on a regular basis – a weekly date to go to the gym, a book club, a monthly dinner out, a joint vacation, or a daily e-mail. Be helpful and supportive when your friends need it. Affirm their successes.”
Happy Couples
One of the secrets of successful marriages is that the partners talk a lot. Happy couples have five positive interactions for every negative one. That means that for every negative statement or behaviour – criticizing, nagging, lecturing – there are five positive ones.
Couples in the happiest relationships bring out the best in each other. They help each other get closer to becoming their “ideal” selves. This is known as the Michelangelo Effect.
Go along with your partner to learn a skill – yoga, meditation, or even zumba. After coming back, practise it daily with your partner. You will observe that your happiness level goes up.
Choose an activity – hobby or voluntary, charitable work – that you can both do together over the weekends. You will feel happier.
People with strong social support are healthier and live longer. An intriguing analysis of three communities of very long-living people – Sardinians in Italy, Okinawans in Japan, and Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California – revealed that they all had five things in common. At the top of the list were “put family first” and “keep socially engaged.”
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
Leo Buscaglia
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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© Jagat Singh Bisht
Master Teacher: Happiness & Well-Being, Laughter Yoga Master Trainer, Author, Blogger, Educator, and Speaker
Founder
A Pathway to Authentic Happiness, Well-Being & A Fulfilling Life! We teach skills to lead a healthy, happy and meaningful life.
The Science of Happiness (Positive Psychology), Meditation, Yoga, Spirituality and Laughter Yoga. We conduct talks, seminars, workshops, retreats and training.
≈ Editor – Shri Hemant Bawankar/Editor (English) – Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM
