Notes from ‘Happiness Unlimited’ #2

I have been watching 1 episode of Happiness Unlimited, a show where Mr Suresh Oberoi interviews Sister BK Shivani. Notes from the second episode ‘Stop Postponing Happiness’ that I watched today are here.

• We have 2 choices: I’ll be happy when I achieve this, and I’ll be happy while achieving this.
• We are not going to be able to lead our lives without goals, aims, and objectives. Because without goals, we’ll become very passive. I wouldn’t know where I’m heading.
• It’s not about what has happened. It’s about what I need to do now, how does my state of being have to be. I have to take care of that. Otherwise I’m in the vicious cycle of negativity.
• Whatever may be the situation, however challenging they may be, I am not going to get the solution unless I take care of myself.
• Let’s say I’m a family of 5 people. And 4 of them are not well. They are ill. I want to take the responsibility of taking care of them, of healing them. I’ll only be able to do it if I’m fine. This is about physical health, but now you take the same equation to emotional health.
• Happiness is an internal strength. Happiness doesn’t mean excitement. I’m not going to be jumping and dancing the whole day. I have lost my job; I am not excited about it.
• My child has got less marks. My responsibility at that time would be first to take charge of my mind... fine... first I have to remain stable so that I don’t react, I don’t shout at him. I don’t upset him. Then my responsibility is to take care of his state of mind. Then my third responsibility is to take care that he studies and gets good marks next time.
• The only reason a child commits suicide is because he is not able to face his parents after a failure. It’s not because he failed. It’s because he doesn’t want to see his parents unhappy. And he holds himself responsible for the parents’ unhappiness, because the parents conditioned him the whole year that we’ll be happy only when you do this.
• Every individual’s life is based on 4 aspects: physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Like the 4 legs of chair we are sitting on. If I want to be successful in life, all 4 should be equally balanced.
• It’s possible that a parent has not gone to school, but they send their child to the best school. It’s possible that a parent doesn’t eat, but gives food to the child. But it’s not possible for a parent to have his child happy without the parent being happy himself. You cannot make your child emotionally strong without being emotionally strong yourselves. That’s where the responsibility comes first on yourself.