Tag Archives: happiness

The Story Behind the Book Cover

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It was CRAZY to finalize the cover for my debut self-help book – “Create Your Magic Potion“. At times, I had to take a sleeping potion to get back to normal the very next day. I know it’s a silly jest 😉

Selecting a book cover is like getting to choose your own face; a face that clearly expresses the author’s inner self, and reflects the inner story of the book outside. But, very often it is perceived quite differently by people than the way it is presented by the writer. Nevertheless, every writer chooses the best he/she can to get the message across to the readers.

A tedious and maddening job, gives you nightmares and often the writers get up in the middle of the night to quickly sketch-out the design, half-asleep with whatever tools that come handy at that time, before the picture slips from the mind.

The cover of a self-help book must perfectly encapsulate the book’s theme, reflecting creativity, newness and brighter side of life. For a book about creativity, cover design expectations are always high.

Through this cover, I am trying to prove that sometimes it’s a single detail that can make a difference. The clarity and clutter free theme shows the very first step of starting any new process. The butterfly depicts the transformation from a caterpillar to a whole new, brighter and colorful entity, creating its own magic potion and spreading positivity all over. The drop of the potion portrays that it can create ripple effects of beauty, happiness and tranquility.

The soothing colors, green and blue are the favorite colors of nature. They render peace, growth, balance and harmony. Green is an emotionally positive color and a natural peacemaker that gives the ability to love and nurture ourselves and others unconditionally. Also, it’s a color of spring, renewal and rebirth, and that’s what the book is about, expressing that winter definitely turns to spring.

The color light blue is the color of the sky, depicting limitless options in life. It also signifies, trust, loyalty, confidence and tranquility which is the most important aspect of the techniques discussed in the book to attain the state of permanent happiness.

Releasing soon, “Create Your Magic Potion” wishes to touch at least a tiny little corner of your heart.

You don’t love me!

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Saying this to your spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend is quite common, but the true answer lies within yourself.  Rather than asking this question to others, asking it to yourself will give you the best answer. Ponder upon the reasons why you don’t love yourself much and you won’t be able to give yourself any excuses or fake assurances with a mouth full of lies like others can do to you. That’s true that we cannot lie to ourselves. Relate this FOMO (fear of missing out) of good things like love and attention from others to those days when you were single but happy, may be in your childhood or adolescence, and find out why were you happy that time as compared to now when you have people closer to you? You will find that you are actually not missing anything, but yourself. The FOMO is connected to people, not to real happiness.

It’s important, I must say very essential to find yourself if you are lost in running after people for your happiness. AND, IT’S VERY EASY!

Don’t wait for special occasions with people, like dating or celebrating only with others. Date yourself; celebrate your existence, your own happiness, and your own achievements.

Shop for yourself, or wear beautiful dresses when and wherever you want

Take yourself out for a coffee, some desserts or some wine

Drive yourself to beautiful places, scenic highways and put on your favorite music

Pamper yourself with a SPA ; buy it or create for yourself. A warm bubble bath with aromatic oils and plenty of time can just be the perfect way to pamper your body temple

Walk alone or go for a trek. Romance nature and you will never be disappointed.

Cook for yourself. Anything that you like and would love to cook for others, make it for you. Don’t treat yourself as unimportant. A glass of wine while cooking with some beautiful music or any travel and food documentaries is my way of happy cooking.

Dig out the things you forgot during the course of life which made you happy, or something that you always wished for. It could be a hobby, and activity you were fond of. It could be a thing you always wanted for yourself, a dress, a book series or anything.

Beach-up. Nothing is more soothing and relaxing than listening to the ocean waves. You can do this too, but you can also party on the beach, play with the waves and have fun the way you want to. A beautiful beach dress, flip-flops and a beach bag can make you

A bookstore with a café’. No need to say more.

Appreciate your appearance, your looks. Feel gorgeous

Dare it. Face your fears if you have any. Go for adventures and your success or failure will make you closer to you

Movies, yes, they make you feel good. Watch your favorite movies. If not regularly, at least once in a month spend your day with your favorite characters and stories with treats in the living room.

Meditate or join a spiritual group, a Sufi dance workshop, a pottery workshop, a gardening workshop.

Grow your own garden. A few beautiful plants, organic herbs not only please the senses but also give a chance to spend some time for yourself by using them for your own health.

Sit in a garden and relax on the green carpet grass

 Excursions, food walks, dance workshops, wine tasting events, farm tours, a visit to stud farms,  stage shows, stand-up comedies, live music concerts, swimming and so much more to do with yourself

Buy yourself flowers every now and then and some chocolates too. Enjoy!

 

 

10 Step Journey to Buddhahood

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Faith and Practice

Buddhism says: Your Karmas determine your life, and you can transform your negative karmas to positives for better and conscious life ahead.

Step 1: Reality Check – Difficult to Accept

You don’t believe that you might have done something wrong in the past; you question your karmas and think, ‘why is it happening to me when I haven’t wronged anyone?’ The Buddhist teachings (or the first step of the teachings) make you learn to hold yourself responsible for all that’s happening in your life.  Your karmic cycle is what makes you happy or makes you suffer. All those whom you hold responsible for your sufferings have no role to play in deciding the consequences of your bad karmas or good karmas.

This is the most difficult step to take and understand, to move ahead towards Buddhahood.

Step 2: Decision to Kick-start or Back-off

Now, you either accept (by analyzing or not analyzing, initially), or remain onto your own judgment and skip or keep questioning faith.

If you accept and move on, in the long run you might get answers of all you questions and doubts you had in the beginning. And if, you skip or remain only own your own judgment, you would not find any escape out of your sufferings.

So, decide!

Step 3: Acceptance

How to accept?

The steps to acceptance are:

  • Consider yourself very normal as a human being, and very natural to make mistakes, but also willing to bring changes for betterment.
  • Don’t analyze (at this point) what wrong you have done; rather think that there might be many things which you might have done that might have hurt others in some way or the other.
  • Be firm on your decision of changing all your negative karmas (thoughts, words, decisions, and actions) into positive karmas, and to clean up your karmic cycle.
  • Accept your bad aspects and practice faith, determination, good words, positive thoughts and actions to incorporate the changes you are aiming for.

 Step 4: Practicing

Start practicing faith without judgment and without looking for instant results.

(But if you think deeply and analyze, you have already started receiving the instant results of your decision of keeping on with the faith, in the form of peace that you found after accepting yourself and continuing with the faith)

Step 5: Feeling Positive

Gradually you start realizing that acceptance is the first step towards peace and positivity. You also start analyzing things now, which you left in the initial few steps. A lot of things will cross your mind and you would be able to understand the difference between right and wrong. You also might get some events or incidents of the past in your head which you might relate to your present condition. Here, you get the real picture of analyzing what is positive and what is negative.

Step 6: Answers to Your Questions

Now, you will not question the circumstances, situations, or God, but you’ll look for answers, to come out of these low life conditions, and every time you will get the same answer, ‘Keep faith, do positive, think positive, be patient! Everything will come to you in due season, but you must not get impatient. You have already held God’s hand by accepting and moving forward towards change, and He will never forsake you. Keep practicing; limit your dependency on people, situations, or things. Dig in yourself and connect to faith every time you feel good or bad.’

Step 7: Vigorous Practice

You will start practicing more in desire to achieve peace and happiness. You will look for better ways of dealing with things. You will let go of a lot of things and also receive a lot of things while practicing faith. Your Karmas will start to transform and you will start appreciating even the smallest positive change in your life. And here begins the Contentment.

Step 8: Contentment

Now you don’t hold others responsible for your happiness or suffering. You practice to improve yourself. You also help others to understand the value of happiness within them. Here your life starts escalating from low life condition to high life condition within no time.

Step 9: Results

Now you have achieved peace, love, and contentment within yourself, and have only Faith to rely on. And then you don’t practice to have something all the time, but you practice to be happy with all that you have. You become a pro in dealing with things by yourself and practicing Faith.

Step 10: Happiness

You always keep on being happy and inspiring others, and seek opportunities to grow your Faith in hard times.

Photo Source: http://www.diamondway-buddhism.org/