This article is written by Ramanuj Mukherjee, CEO, LawSikho.
No matter where you are in life, happiness is just a decision away.
However, it is not at all easy to switch to happiness when you are in distress. Happiness, in that way, requires practice.
I had a Russian yoga teacher for about 5 months at the age of 30. Learning yoga from a Russian was very interesting because he did not teach in the way a normal yoga teacher will teach. He taught me Kundalini meditation, gave me massages that he claimed are based on Russian martial arts System, and constantly screamed at me when I was in pain doing difficult stretches, trying to stop myself from screaming when he rubbed out a muscle very hard or trying to keep at an exercise: smile, smile, see how beautiful life is.
He would take me into paddy fields and ask me to close my eyes and dance for an hour, on some occasions, while he played meditative music.
The entire point of his teaching, delivered in broken English, was that you must keep smiling no matter what you are going through.
And that is the crux of what I want to tell you today. Happiness can be a habit. Happy thoughts can be your default just as depressing thoughts can be. Having suffered from depression several times, this has been an enduring lesson in my life.
But to make happy and empowering thoughts your default, or to make it a habit, you must practice happiness. You must switch from anxiety or grief to happiness a thousand times before it starts to become a habit.
And it is not easy to practice this when the default in your head is distress, pain, sorrow, negativity or hatred. A lot of times you may try and fail. The important thing is to keep trying until you succeed.
Break on through to the other side!
It may all sound crazy to you right now, but what if happiness was a habit that just required practice? What if it was possible to be happy no matter what rubbish is happening to you? What if you could be smiling when you endure difficulties and learn to enjoy even the worst pain?
I read about a certain military training once, where the recruits have to run up a hill every night with a huge load of arms and ammunitions. It is very, very painful. Especially because they are already tired and sleep-deprived for days.
So what do the soldiers do?
They sing while they jog up the hillside. Their body is in extreme pain, their instinct is asking them to give up and crumble to the ground, but they sing and keep going.
Why sing?
It is because when you sing happy songs, your brain gets a signal that you are happy that you are enjoying what is happening. The brain comes to believe that the soldier loves the unbearable pain.
And it does what it can to keep them going.
Our biggest battles are always with ourselves, and we have got to do whatever we can to win.
So learn to sing when you are in pain, smile more when you find it hard to keep going, learn to switch to happiness whenever you find yourself low or sad. It is probably the biggest lesson to learn in our lives.
Embrace the pain, but with a smile. Confuse the F out of your brain, and learn to love the grind of life. That is the only way to the top.
One of the best things you can do for your brain and your spirit is to go through a stimulating and challenging training. At LawSikho, we have very stimulating and challenging courses that you are going to love. Check them out.
Here are the courses in which we are currently taking admission.
Diploma
Diploma in Advanced Contract Drafting, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
Diploma in M&A, Institutional Finance and Investment Laws (PE and VC transactions)
Diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws
Executive Certificate Courses
Certificate Course in Advanced Corporate Taxation
Certificate Course in Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
Certificate Course in Advanced Civil Litigation: Practice, Procedure and Drafting
Certificate Course in Legal Practice Development and Management
Certificate Course in Securities Laws, Insider Trading and SEBI Litigation
Certificate Course in Media and Entertainment Law: Contracts, Licensing and Regulations
