Speaking Tree Article by Jaya Row
Life isn’t always easy. Plans fail. People disappoint us. Challenges appear without warning. Yet, even on the toughest days, joy is always present. You only have to recognise it.
Joy isn’t found only in life’s big milestones – a promotion, a new home or the perfect holiday. It’s woven into everyday moments. A stranger’s warm smile. The first rays of the morning sun. The laughter of children. The fragrance of fresh rain. A cool breeze after a hot day. Life is full of simple gifts that cost nothing yet enrich everything.
So why do we miss them? Because our minds are rarely in the present moment. We’re either replaying yesterday’s mistakes or anxious about tomorrow’s uncertainties. While our body lives in the present, our mind is somewhere else. And when the mind is absent, joy slips by unnoticed.
The mind is constantly chasing desires. It believes happiness lies in the next purchase, achievement or relationship. Restless and distracted, it keeps running from one goal to another. You may be sitting down to your favourite meal, but if your mind is on a difficult meeting you’ve had or on tomorrow’s presentation, you don’t even taste the food because the mind lacked presence.
Gita says that people cook, yet ‘eat sin’. You work hard to earn wealth. In the end you only get stress and mental agitation. Who enjoys the world? The person who eats the remnants of sacrifice. When you work in a spirit of service and sacrifice for a higher cause, you gain prosperity and bliss. Your mind is calm and suddenly, simplest experiences become deeply fulfilling – the song of a bird, colours of a sunset, a home-cooked meal or a quiet walk in nature.
The mind, however, ignores the hundreds of blessings you already have and fixates on the one thing you don’t. In doing so, it blinds you to the abundance that surrounds you. Even after getting what it wants, the mind quickly moves to the next desire. More success, recognition, possessions, enjoyment. The race never ends.
When your happiness is pegged on a future achievement you do not enjoy what you have. And when you get what you want, the mind immediately shifts to something else. This goes on endlessly. Swami Rama Tirtha said, “If you are not happy as you are, where you are, you will never be happy!” Aspire for and gain the whole world. But discontent should never be the motive.
At any time, you can focus on the things you have and enjoy them. This has nothing to do with how much you possess. You then develop the irresistible urge to give, share, contribute. You become creative at work as you think of different ways of serving others. You achieve success. The law is – give you gain, grab you lose.
There is another secret to joyful living. You don’t have to own something to enjoy it. Celebrate your friend’s success. Admire your neighbour’s renovated home. Enjoy a ride in a colleague’s new car. Rejoice in another person’s victory as though it were your own. And you will never experience failure.
A calm mind naturally seeks higher joys. As your purpose expands beyond yourself, smaller desires lose their hold. Then you enjoy the world fully. And you rise above it. And in that freedom, every ordinary day becomes extraordinary.
Guru Purnima talk on HAPPINESS by Jaya Row on 16 August at 5.45 pm at NIMHANS Convention Centre, Hombegowda Nagar, Bengaluru 560029. All are welcome. WhatsApp 99200 54000 for queries.
