In Pursuit of Happiness....Never ends well

When most of us think about what makes us happy, we tend to focus on the “things” in life that we crave or long to possess. These things may be concrete consumables or they may be intangible resources, such as “time,” “inner peace,” or “true love.”

It is easier for some of us to create a list of what we want the world to give us than it is to think in terms of what we can give back to the world.

We live in a world of instant feedback and conspicuous consumption. It may be experienced firsthand through the “Buy Now” button on Amazon’s website or Netflix bingeing or through an obsession with reading or creating online reviews of products, films, and life, in general. It seems a little odd that we trust strangers’ opinions when we already know how much we might disagree with our own BFFs about favorite products.

It is amazing how many “things” everyone seems to have in their lives – and how many more things we might desire because we believe that they can make us feel even better about ourselves in relation to how we think others feel about us.

Happiness is a state of being, not a pile of stuff.

The secret to happiness is actually a set of four factors that can easily be mastered by any of us, anywhere. The four practices that can change your life for good are friendliness, cheerfulness, compassion, and gratitude.

Friendliness

Some people can be described as “the type of person who’s never met a stranger.” These are people who meet the world with a pleasant temperament and an openness to new people and new experiences – regardless of who may be placed in their path on any given day.

Friendliness is about offering warmth and good humor to those around you.

It is about being willing to make the first move socially while recognizing that others may be a little slower to warm up. It’s about knowing that the reward for friendliness is not always immediately apparent.

Human beings are social creatures and being kind is a lot more likely to help you build your “tribe” than showing indifference or disinterest to the people that you might someday need for support or assistance.

Cheerfulness

There are plenty of old songs that encourage you to “put on a happy face” or “smile when your heart is breaking,” and, much more recently, Pharrell’s iconic  “Happy,” where I first heard the awesome simile about happiness feeling “like a room without a roof.”

Many of us may feel a little confused about why we are always encouraging people to “lie” to themselves and pretend to feel something they don’t. It is because researchers have found that being able to offer the world a sunny disposition, regardless of your inner mood state, actually encourages you to feel better physically!

Smiles are contagious, too, and if you can find the energy to offer your own smile to the people around you, even if you feel like your inner world is falling apart, you are going to feel magically better when our smile is returned.

In fact, being on the receiving end of someone else’s genuine smile has been proven to be emotionally and psychologically healing. Did you know that simply imagining that you are being smiled at by someone you love is just as powerfully healing as having that person present?

If you need one more reason to be cheerful, how about this...

Research has shown that when patients grimace or frown during medical treatments or procedures, they actually feel MORE PAIN than those who do not. Gritting your teeth and bearing it is not the best option. Letting yourself smile in the midst of struggle is what brings a change in perception and increases your ability to cope.

Be empathetic to those who are seeking assistance from you and offer them extra support by way of an encouraging smile. When you use your warm presence to help them get through difficult times, the pay-off can be huge! For both of you.

Compassion

Offering compassion to others is another charitable act that positively influences the giver. When we accept others’ shortcomings or cut others slack for their own wrongs or missteps, we are actually valuing humanity over someone else’s personal flaws.

Most of us are truly doing the best we can at any given moment. Sure, some days our “best” is far from “enough,” and there are days when we know that we are guilty of giving less where we probably should have tried harder to give more. No one is at 100 percent of their game every day. However, if you accept the shortfall of another, the windfall for you is a happier life. 

For those of you who believe that you always give 100 percent, I challenge you to prove this to yourself by giving others a little compassion when they don’t measure up to your own high standards. That’s what someone who truly gives 100 percent would do, no doubt.

Bring a sense of gratitude to your life

Whatever you have in life and wherever you are, you can always find some reason to be grateful. For instance, today you may be feeling a little anxious, but you showed up – that’s something we all are grateful for.

Acknowledging your own good fortune – no matter how seemingly slight or minimal at the moment – can actually enhance your overall wellbeing.

Researchers have found that being truly grateful for what you have in life can yield some pretty important physical benefits:

• You sleep better and enjoy better relationships! Those are pretty important benefits for graduate students, for sure. And for adults, in general, I expect.

• Not only that, but researchers have also found that a person’s level of gratitude is inversely proportional to their level of depressed feelings or sadness.

• So, the more grateful you are in life, the better the chances are that you will actually enjoy what you have!

Why Bother Being Happy?

• Happy people enjoy less stressful lives.

• Happy people actually live longer, too.

• Happy people are protected against some forms of chronic illnesses.
• Meet the world with a positive attitude
• Smile at and befriend others
• Cut us all a little slack, and
• Be consciously grateful for all that you do have rather than worrying about why you do not.

If you’re hanging around waiting for the world to make you happy, it simply isn’t going to happen.

Plus, you are a lot more fun to be around if you’re feeling good about life! And your family and friends can certainly appreciate that!

You don’t have to win the lottery, earn a 4.0 GPA, find true love, beat Bowser to save Peach, or live a perfect life to find happiness.

You just need to do 4 things:

1. Meet the world with a positive attitude
2. Smile at and befriend others
3. Cut us all a little slack, and
4. Be consciously grateful for all that you do have rather than worrying about why you do not.

I can pretty much guarantee that instilling these 4 practices into your daily life can leave you feeling happy – maybe even like a room without a roof!

The Shivlinga under the sea water

The Stambeshwar Mahadev temple is situated about 40 miles from vadodara

Nishkalank Mahadev Temple in Koliyak, Bhavnagar, Gujarat is full of wonders. This temple is buried inside the sea. On a heavy tide day, all that can be seen are the flag and a pillar.

It is beyond ones understanding that there is a Lord Shiva Temple just under the fierce sea.

This temple is still in use, and people visit this place on foot! The temple contains 5 distinct swayumbu Shiva lingams inside. This is certainly one of the best spiritual destinations!

The next temple story dates back to Mahabaratha era. Pandavas killed all the Kuravas and won the fight. Pandavas were sorrow stricken knowing they acquired sins for killing their own family. In order to find redemption for their sins, Pandavas met Lord Krishna.

To remove the sins, Krishna hands over a black Flag and a Black COW. He directs the Pandavas to follow it, when both Cow and flag turns white, they all will be pardoned. Krishna also advises them to do penance to lord Shiva, after that.

The angst stricken brothers followed the cow wherever it went and carried the flag. They walked for days, to different places and the color did not change. Finally, when they arrived at the Koliyak Beach, both cow and the flag color turned to white. Pandavas were exalted. And all the 5 brothers sat for deep forfeit, meditated on lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva impressed by the brothers showed up in lingam form to each brother. As they meditated, each lingam appeared in front of each brother. In total there were 5 (Swayumbu) lingams that showed up on their own. Pandavas were delighted to see this and they worshiped all the five lingams with great devotion.

Lord Shiva here is known as Nishkalan Mahadev. ‘Nishkalank’ has many meaning they are clean, pure, guiltless, to cleanse, to purify, etc. It is said that Pandavas established Nishkalank or Nakalank Mahadev on a Amavasai of the Indian calendar month of Bhadarva.

The famous fair popularly known as ‘Bhadarvi’ is held on the no moon night in month of Sharvan (August), as per the Indian calendar. An idol of Lord Shiva was established in an island, over the sea about 3 km to the east of Koliyak. Each lingam has a Nandhi facing it. The lingams are spread across a square Platform. There is a pond called Pandavas pond and devotees’ first wash their hands and legs and only then they visit the Lord Shivas shrines.

As per the meaning of the name of mahadev, People worship ‘Nishkalank’ mahadev to be clean, pure, guiltless, to cleanse and to purify themselves.

One other alike place is Kavi Kamboi, near Baroda.

The Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple is situated about 40 miles from Vadodara in the small town of Kavi Kamboi of Gujarat. The temple is located along the Bay of Khambat in the Arabian Sea. The most interesting fact about this temple is that it can be visited only during the low tide hours. In the hours of high tides, the temple is mostly submerged. Thousands flock to this place frequently to watch the mesmerizing view of submerging or reemerging of the temple from the sea.

Know about your religion on this website

Want know about your religion and caste? What importance does your religion and caste hold in your life? Where can you access concrete information about your religion? Your search for these answers ends at web portal IAMNINDIAN.COM. “I Am N Indian” brings to you a collaboratively informative website centred in with cultures, tradition, religion, faith, inspiration, food, art and many more for you to incorporate Indian values under just one click.

‘India’ the land of religion and beliefs. It is surrounded by one of the richest and most exciting cultural traditions in the world. Our culture goes back hundreds of years and this is the reason ours is known as one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

We are the only country whose culture is accepted by most of the countries, for example Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda, Buddhism, Architecture, etc. are gifts of India to mankind. ‘I Am N Indian’ strongly believes our identity is ‘Indian’. We also believe religious beliefs and practices are points of curiosity from time to time but do not routinely come up for discussions in young people’s conversations. Nowadays teenagers are abandoning religion before they reach adulthood, with an increasing number not raised with religion at all.

IAMNINDIAN.COM gives you to explore, understand, learn, and share under just one click. It is marked as a revolution towards Mankind helping appreciate and value each other’s way of life. It believes this mysteriously diverse view of religion is a strong reason to come up with this portal and enable a place to educate their visitors about the massive learning our Indian culture has to offer bringing in the accessibility to all faith under one safe haven. ‘I Am N Indian’ is just a genuine effort to bring every religion together under one connect.

This website is filtered with concrete information about Indian religion, caste, prayers, teachings, ceremonies, festival, food, culture, faith, inspiration, values and many more. It is a platform where your family and children understand your religious background and values well again and it also helps a widespread awareness among the youth of today and the upcoming generation.

The ‘I Am N Indian’ website and application simplifies the first step to you which is signing up yourself by keying in your religion and caste along with your mobile number. Followed by which it will filter information about your own religion, caste, festival, culture, art, food and ceremonies. This will help people understand their religion well enough filling in anything that you have missed following so far even after spending years in the archives; it will help discover the better “You”.

Get the perfect and healthy dishes for Ganesh Festival this year

Bappa is finally on his way to enter our homes and hearts in a few days and preparations have begun in full swing to give him the best treatment this year. Just like any other festival, we celebrate it with yummy home-made treats many of which can be quite heavy. Being in a festive mood can often mean we throw caution to the wind and indulge in sweets and snacks without realising how many additional calories we are piling on just within a few days.

However with certain modifications, you can make your favourite dish healthy without missing out on taste or the fear of gaining too much weight. Nutritionist Naini Setalvad shares with us five deliciously healthy recipes of popular dishes made during Ganesh Chaturthi. Savour them without any regrets and enjoy this festival with a healthy spirit.

Urad Dal Karanjiya

Made using black lentil, this dish is quite healthy. It has various spices which not just add flavour but also have several health benefits as well. The dough is made using rice dough and the dish is savoury in taste.

Varan Bhaat

This dish too is made using lentils – tur dal which is tempered with spices. This is eaten with steamed rice. Varan is very healthy and light too.

Rishi Panchami Sabzi

Another healthy recipe, it is made using many vegetables. Most of the vegetables used are quite less in number of calories such as bottle gourd, cucumber, pumpkin, etc. This makes it extremely healthy.

Puran Poli

A traditional Maharashtrian dish, this version is made using jaggery or gur which is healthier than sugar. This sweet dish is quite a popular dish amongst children and adults. But restrict the quantity and don’t go overboard as it is quite heavy.

Ukadiche Modak

Ganesh Chaturthi will be incomplete if there is no modak. This steamed modak has lesser calories and it is made with rice flour and skim milk. Make them fresh and eat 1-2 every day.