Past life regression therapy attempts to put this search for a perfect therapy to a logical end. It attempts to strike at the root of an issue, at the level of the soul. That is why this therapy is also known as the ‘soul therapy’. It works on the premise that we are eternal beings. We have lived before and we will live again. As eternal beings, we carry all our thoughts, impressions, emotions, and feelings from time immemorial into our present being. Hence, most of our so-called ills have their roots in some of these thoughts, impressions, feelings, and emotions. To understand our problems, we need to first understand their root cause.

We have all heard of the law of cause and effect. It can be beautifully summed up in the phrase ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’. The cause is always in the past, the effect is in the present. Science says that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. This scientific law is in complete sync with the law of cause and effect. When we see an undesired effect in our present life, we somehow want to get rid of it. But the laws of the universe are infallible. Try as hard as we can, we cannot seem to get rid of these ‘effects’. The solution lies in ‘understanding’ the ‘cause’, then and only then can we break free from this cycle.

This is where past life regression therapy comes to our rescue. Under a scientifically proven and safe procedure the therapist takes you on an un-chartered journey of self-discovery. You re-live memories of past lives where the root cause of your present day problem lies. Your soul draws the parallels between your past life experience and your current life patterns. Things become clear in your mind and new understanding dawns. You realize that you yourself are responsible for all your so-called problems. Armed with this new understanding, you also realize that the solution to your problem lies within yourself as well. In fact it becomes crystal clear to you. You start looking at life, situations, circumstances, and people with new eyes. You undergo a metamorphosis. The purpose of your life becomes clear to you and you embark upon the rest of your present life journey with confidence and élan.

Can any other therapy on earth make such tall claims? Past life regression therapy is the therapy of the 21st century. It not only helps cure diseases, resolve relationship issues, and brings in clarity; but also helps us grow spiritually. We get answers to eternal questions like, ‘Who am I?’, ‘Am I just a physical body, or is there something more to me?’, ‘What is the purpose of my life?’, ‘What is death?’, ‘How can I fulfill my destiny?’ etc. In fact this therapy is a short route to enlightenment. Since this therapy makes you ‘experience’ your TRUTH, you can not be easily dissuaded from that.

Fortunately leading scientists of the world are taking this branch of science seriously and giving it all the time, energy, and deliberation that it deserves. Dr. Brian Weiss, MD of the USA, and Dr. Newton, MD of India are the pioneers in this field. Besides them thousands of therapists are working in this path-breaking field. At this present time on earth, this therapy is the need of the hour.

Benefits of past life regression

•    Past life regression helps to heal chronic diseases. It helps the individuals to understand the karmic patterns involved in illness, and the resultant energy blockages. The understanding that flows during a session clears the energy blockages; thereby healing the dis-ease. Take for example a person who had a past life in which s/he was not allowed to express his/her views or had to pay a heavy price for expressing them; such a person may have a disease of the throat. After re-living the concerned past life and releasing the trauma, the healing occurs.
•    Past life regression helps overcome fears and phobias, by bringing about an understanding of the specific root cause. For example, a person had claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces). He re-lived a past life in which he was buried alive in an earthquake. Once he released that trauma, he was able to overcome his fear.
•    Past life regression improves one’s inter-personal relationships by making the person understand the impact of past life relationships with those individuals. The person is able to see the larger perspective and therefore the relationships are ‘healed’.
•    Past life regression frees us from fear of death once and for all. Through exploring our past lives we realize that we are eternal beings. We have been here before and we will come back again. This understanding completely eliminates the fear of death.

Common misconceptions about past life regression therapy

•    Only the present life is relevant, past lives have no effect on the present life.

In reality, we are the products of ‘all our experiences’ carried within us from all our past lives in addition to the experiences of the present life. The past life therapy helps get rid of the negative patterns of the past which continue to affect our present life.

•    Past is past and better left alone.

Scientific research indicates that all our memories, including those of the past lives, are stored in the mind field. We carry these memories and their effects in our energy field in the present moment, and unconsciously act out of these stored beliefs and experiences. Releasing the past is an important step, and can only be undertaken once we understand it.

• The past life memories during regression are experienced due to the suggestion of the therapist.

Past life regression therapists do not give suggestions during regression. They only direct the client to seek the root cause of an issue. The client’s sub-conscious reveals the memories.

•    Past life regression therapy can be done by anyone.

It is important to be treated by someone who is trained and experienced in the field. Only an experienced practitioner whose belief system is compatible with the spiritual science of past lives should conduct regression work.

•    If we really had past lives, we would remember them.

In reality there are occasions when we do remember our past lives. This happens when:

•    We meet a person for the first time but feel that we know this person well.
•    We visit a place for the first time but feel that we have been here before.
•    We sit in deep mediation and have a past life recall.
•    Child prodigies exhibit talents and abilities that can not be explained by the circumstances or experiences of their current lives.

Finally, keep an open mind towards this therapy and try it out. You have nothing to lose; it is all about gain without pain!!!!!

Chitra Jha is a trainer of a refreshing genre. She conducts tailor-made workshop on Enlightened Living, Enlightened Healing, Enlightened Parenting, Enlightened Eating, Enlightened Death, Past Life Regression and Spiritual Science. She does one-on-one sessions and small group therapy sessions as well. Contact chitrajhaa@gmail.com.

Sometimes when I try to explain my dream to my family and friends, I get blank stares. My enthusiasm does not find an eager audience. Most of the times, I try and avoid this situation by just keeping quiet about my dreams, but there are times when I can’t contain my excitement. I do understand that everyone operates from their belief system, just as I do. But how come the belief systems are different in the very same family in which we grow up? What exactly determines our belief systems? Is it the cumulative experience and influence of one lifetime or infinite life times?

Since I am a past life regression therapist, I know that our past lives do affect our present belief systems, but for most people this fact is difficult to digest. Most of us believe that our beliefs come primarily from our childhood conditioning. If we are told as children that telepathy does not exist, we will grow up believing it to be our truth. However, it is only a belief and not a fact. Most of what we believe is not based on facts in any case. Now suppose that as a grown-up you come across someone who can demonstrate to you that telepathy does exist. What will you do now? Will you accept this new truth?

Generally even when a fact is offered with proof, skeptic minds would try and block it. They try and skip to another reality zone, just to avoid changing their beliefs. It is a sort of automatic defense mechanism of the ego. Sometimes, when you are trying your best to explain something new to someone, they get a glazed look in their eyes. Their attention drifts off. They stop paying attention to you. This is their mind’s way of blocking out information that does not tally with its belief system. Only an open mind can absorb new information and evaluate it on its own terms.

So, now I have decided to share my dreams only with those people who believe in me. I am not here to change anyone’s belief systems, I am here to have faith in my belief system and evaluate it from time to time. I am here to discard beliefs that do not work for me any more and form experiential beliefs that always work. I do not believe that successful people are just lucky. I know that one becomes successful by believing in one’s dreams.

My motivation comes from setting big goals. Big goals to me mean goals that seem fantastic, out of reach, slightly scary, and not commiserating with the current appearances of reality. Say, for example, I had set a goal of becoming a life skills coach, when I was just a homemaker. It took me two years and various small steps of being a communication skills teacher, verbal ability instructor for management entrance exams, a columnist, a healer, and finally a life skills coach. Wow! It seems like a dream run. Throughout this period I stayed motivated by writing my goal in great detail, letting go of it in care of the universe, and taking small inspired actions when needed.

Such miracles happen in my life all the time. Invariably I am led to the right people, right opportunities and right know-how to achieve my goals. After one goal is achieved, I set another big goal. Right now my big goal is to be conducting my empowering workshops throughout the world. It does seem impossible to some, but to me it is my reality, whether I can see it in my present environment or not.

I stay motivated by my complete faith in the universe and its infallible laws. My motivation also comes from imagining a bigger, brighter, and more colourful life than I currently lead. I put my emotions into this picture and live it in my mind. Eventually I am led to take decisive action. This action is always inspired, and I do it to the best of my ability with gay abundance.

I have written my new life story keeping all areas of my life, viz, career, money, health, friends, family, personal development, recreation, and personal environment in right perspective. I run this story through my mind at least twice a day. Each run builds up a new momentum, and I feel excited about taking actions to reach my goals. I know people who live the kind of life that I live, and I also know people whose lives are full of boredom, discontent, and mediocrity. I feel grateful to the universe because my eyes and mind are open. I have discovered my potential. I have chosen my life of purpose and passion. I feel ecstatic. Life sure is beautiful!

Chitra Jha conducts empowering workshops throughout the world.

I was living a beautiful, content life of marital bliss, enjoying motherhood and generally just being there. Life was good, I believed in myself, God was not a word in my lexicon; I passed my leisure reading fiction and watching movies. But, and it is a big ‘but’, at times I felt that there was more in me. I was made for bigger things. Slowly this ‘but’ became a kind of obsession and that is when I attracted Linda Goodman’s Star Signs. The year was 1999.

Suddenly everything that I was so sure of seemed like an illusion. I became more introspective, and life just changed…for the better. Reiki came into my life and took charge of me. I was changing for sure, but the world around me was changing as well. To begin with I could not read fiction any more. Books like A. Parthasarthy’s Vedanta Treatise, Richard Bach’s Illusions, Deepak Chopra’s Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents, Ageless Body Timeless Mind, The Path to Love, James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy, Dr. Brian Weiss’s Only Love is real, and many other books of this ilk became my constant companions.

By and by I gave up reading the newspaper (something I used to be devoted to), watching television; eating animal products (including dairy), left-overs (again something my fridge used to be proud of), processed, packaged, bottled stuff; allopathic medicine, etc. Now I enjoy locally produced fresh foods (primarily fruits, vegetables, and nuts). All this just happened.

The major change happened in my way of looking at things. I started looking at everything including my body as a gift from God. Hence everything in my experience including family, friends, foods, clothes, weather, environment and what have you became a ‘present’. Now what do you do when you keep receiving presents in each moment? Only one phrase emerges from deep within: ‘Thank you.’ Gratefulness becomes a part of life, and all the complaints, criticisms, judgments just disappear. Yes, this actually happens. Once you experience this eternal gratefulness, you start living in ‘oneness’. Everything becomes an expression of God.

‘God’ the very word I was allergic to, has now become a constant refrain in my conversations. Each moment He experiences His highest expression through me; hence each moment has become a reason for celebration.

I realize that it is not just about me; entire humanity is waking up from a deep slumber, as though by a pre-determined agreement at a mass scale. The change is not happening just with me, but with the ‘collective unconscious’. The ‘time’ is finally here for a major ‘shift’ of the ages; and my waking up is just a small part of the larger plan that is unfolding around us.

Yes, these are special times, and things are coming to a head now. The choice before us is clear. Do we wish to choose unconditional love or fear? Are we with Light or with Darkness? It is for us to exercise our freewill. The responsibility as always lies with us. Please choose wisely, as these times will not come back in a hurry. It will take another great cycle, another age, another yuga for the conditions to be so ‘right’.

Having said that, if I could, in any way, be of any service to anyone, I am always there!

Chitra Jha is a healer, writer, corporate trainer and verbal ability instructor.

Most of us take our role as a parent too seriously. We feel completely responsible for our offspring’s welfare. We consider it our duty to guide them in all aspects of their lives. After all we are the parents; we know what is best for our children. If we will not guide them, who will? All these arguments are well-intentioned and I have no issues with these. But in our desire to do the best for our children, we forget to give them ample doses of love, affection, and understanding. We think that too much love would spoil them. We believe in discipline more than understanding.

In my view, all that we parents ever need to do is to provide generous dollops of love and acceptance to our children. In the absence of a warm and loving atmosphere, no child can ever achieve her full potential. Even discipline does not really work in a hostile environment. In my practice as a life skills coach, I come across individuals with low self-esteem, which stems from their childhood. Unless the home atmosphere is warm, caring, safe, protective, and friendly, a child can not be self-confident. And as you well know, self-esteem is the most critical factor in achieving success in life.

When we like ourselves for what we are, we are more likely to work hard and achieve more. Observe your children. Your encouraging, loving words are their biggest motivators. The moment you put them down, their enthusiasm to do anything vanishes in thin air. If your children are not doing well at school, first look at your home environment. Be objective. Ask yourself; are you the cause of their poor self-esteem? Most of the times, we unfavourably compare our children to their friends. What do you think it does to their self-image? We think that by shaming them, we are motivating them to excel. We couldn’t be more wrong. Apply this rule to yourself. Do you strive to work harder if someone ridicules you? No. You would build up frustration, and anger towards that person. That is exactly what is happening in your home. Pay attention to it and take corrective measures.

My favorite line is a cry from a child, “Mum, love me the most, when I deserve it the least.” This line haunts me. Yes, when we think that our child does not deserve any love because he has been naughty, disobedient, destructive, or a failure; that is when she needs our love the most. Our job at these times is to trust our children and help them discover the talents, abilities, resources, and the personal best that is hidden behind their rough and unappealing exteriors.

We feel let down and disappointed by our children, if they do not tow our line. We label them as ‘difficult’ children. Have you ever wondered if the children feel the same way about us as well? Have we ever given unconditional love to our children? Why do we always have to be judgmental at every step? Our parenting years (and our children’s ears!) are full of ‘good boy’, ‘bad boy’, ‘good girl’, and ‘bad girl’ at each step and after each action. From praise to disgrace, such adjectives confuse children. Their self-worth fluctuates from minute to minute.

Our attention is more focused on the socks left on the floor, unmade beds, badly done homework, bad influence of friends, poor grades, and complaints from the teachers. We do not focus on their good qualities, assets, and strengths, especially when these do not meet with our pre-conceived notions of what is good and what is bad. If we are constantly reminded of our shortcomings, we start believing in them. Our children do the same. By telling them about their strengths, we help them believe in themselves. Their worth increases in their own eyes. They feel capable of making a difference in the world. This empowered attitude leads them to success in whatever field they choose.

So let us get out of our cocooned worlds of expectations and reasoning. Let us pay more attention to playing with our children and understanding them. The time spent together with them is something that we should treasure more than anything else. I believe that our children are our ‘gurus’. There is a lot that we can learn from them. Just observing them is an education by itself.

Are we ready for this new challenge?!?

The first step towards meeting this challenge is spending quality time with your children. Children love to do things with their parents. They feel most loved when their parents make time for them. Otherwise they feel disconnected and empty from inside. So play with your children, do activities like cooking and running errands together. Talk to them about ‘their’ day and ‘your’ day, and see them blossom.

Children also feel loved when you do things ‘for’ them. Make a special breakfast for your son, or help your daughter study for a test; teach your child how to ride her bike. But remember that there is a fine line between doing too much for your children, and doing things as an expression of love. Let them do for themselves what they are capable of doing. Just be flexible with help. Don’t make them entirely dependent upon you.

Some children love to hear words of praise or other affirming statements such as ‘I love you’. Sometimes the words you use can make or break your child’s spirit. Your kind and encouraging words can lift your child up, while harsh words spoken in anger can wound a child. Try sticking sweet notes in your child’s Tiffin box, highlight her/his talents and achievements, and create a special nickname for your little one. These gestures will boost the confidence of your child.

Some children are particularly cuddly. They like to be hugged, while some others do not wish to be held. Such children need physical contact to feel loved. Some parents find it extremely difficult to be physically affectionate with their children because they themselves were never loved that way by their parents. If your child keeps hanging on to you or constantly touches you, it is a sign that she needs to be hugged, kissed, and patted on the back. Even tousling their hair, or wrestling with them will satisfy them.

What is the role of gifts in bringing up your children? Most children appreciate receiving gifts. Their faces light up, they talk animatedly and cherish their gift for a long time. A gift need not be expensive to be special. But do not give gifts to substitute for your time, hugs, affirming words, and things done for your child. Then it becomes a bribe; let us not bribe our kids. A child whose emotional love tank is full will be more responsive, co-operative, and happier than the one whose tank is always devoid of love.

So, pay attention to your children. Listen to their requests. Pay attention to their complaints. Be patient with them, and understand what they might need from you. After all,  love is the foundation of every child’s happiness and sense of security.

Let us re-visit Kahlil Gibran’s famous poem in The Prophet.

Your children are not your children.
They are sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams!
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of infinite,
And He bends you with His might.
That His arrows may go swift and far!
Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
So He loves also the bow that is stable.

Chitra Jha is a healer, writer, corporate trainer and verbal ability instructor.

Look up any dictionary. You will find several definitions of failure there. These are:

• A failing to do or perform
• A state of inability to perform a normal action adequately
• A fracturing or giving way under stress
• A lack of success

Please examine all these definitions carefully. What do you find common in all these definitions? These clearly state that when it comes to achieving a goal, failure is nothing but a perception.

If you believe that you have failed, then you have. If you believe that you can’t succeed, you can’t. If you believe that you can’t possibly handle the pressure of achieving your goals, you can’t. If you believe that you are not successful, you aren’t. Failure has no existence beyond your mind. The moment you decide to stop working towards your goals, failure is born.

What would happen if you do not believe in any of that? What would happen if you carry on working towards your goals? What if you take one step at a time for as long as it takes? What happens to failure then? It no longer exists, does it? So there you are. Now do you agree with me?

If you have been working diligently, but not yet seeing any results; keep this simple statement in mind: ‘Failure has no existence”. Just keep going and you can never fail; because there is no such thing as failure for you.

Never count yourself out. Many a times, people give up without ever realizing it. Don’t stop when the going gets tough. Don’t let your motivation dwindle. Make a commitment to yourself, to make your goals happen. Never ever quit. Do not ever contemplate failure. Do not lose your inner determination.
Thomas Alva Edison’s words ring so true to this day, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” And he should know what he was talking about!
Let me share Edison’s life history with you. He had only three months of formal schooling, and he was partially deaf.  He ‘failed’ approximately ten thousand times while working on the light bulb. At the age of 67, his factory caught fire. While watching the smoke Edison remarked, “God has erased all my mistakes”. Three weeks later he invented phonograph. In fact, he was the greatest inventor of all times. He knew that failure has no existence. Follow Edison’s example and get going.

Set a general timeline for achieving your goals but do not get hooked on to a specific timeframe. Some circumstances always remain beyond your control; hence you can’t always be sure ‘when’ your goal will be achieved. If you get attached to a particular timeframe, you are setting yourself up for failure. It is better to get a general idea about by when you would like to see your goal accomplished. Take it one day at a time. Focus on making progress everyday. You will eventually reach the finish line. Don’t think of taking shortcuts; they don’t work.

Don’t ever view obstacles and setbacks as failures, because they are not. In fact, they have nothing in common with failure. The two are as different as chalk is from cheese. Whenever you face an obstacle, setback, or delay, it can mean only one thing; the time has not yet come for your goal to be completed. That is all! It does not mean that you have failed. It does not mean that you are weak. It does not also mean that you will never achieve your goals. It just means that you are not through as yet. You have got to keep moving ahead, finding a way around an obstacle.

Doing an honest, personal SWOT analysis helps in maintaining the morale during tough times; especially if you link it to a strong and powerful goal! It is easy to conduct your own SWOT analysis. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into four quadrants. Label each area as S, W, O, T. Look at each area and write down the answers to following questions:

Strengths:

• What skills and capabilities do you possess?
• Which areas do you excel in?
• What qualifications, accreditations, or experience make you unique?
• What do other people consider as your strengths?
• Which personal qualities, values and beliefs help you stand out amongst others?

Weaknesses:

• What are the gaps in your capabilities?
• What skills do you need to develop?
• Which areas of your life can you improve upon?
• What do other people see as your weaknesses?
• Which personal difficulties do you need to work through to reach your goals?
• What opportunities are currently available to you?
• What external circumstances can help you achieve your goals?
• Which people could offer you support in achieving your goals?

Threats:

• What obstacles are you currently facing?
• What external circumstances can hinder your growth?
• Which people could get into the way of your achieving your goals?

Such an analysis will clearly help you to understand that you possibly cannot fail, unless you decide to fail. This analysis will help you highlight the aspects of your growth story that you may not have ever considered. This will provide you with a different perspective on your personality.

So, go ahead, review your strengths, and consider ways to address your weaknesses. Develop your skills and capabilities. Review your opportunities and use them to your advantage. Think of ways to minimize or eliminate your threats. Such actions are a one way ticket to success. Failure has no role to play here, as it just does not exist. All that exists and always did are opportunities and challenges!

Let go of your false beliefs and expect success!

Adolescence: The lush season between the spring and the summer!

Parenting is the most exhilarating, satisfying and challenging job, especially when we have to parent adolescent children.

Adolescence appears at a time when the urge of life reaches its highest peak. An adolescent’s life is, or ought to be, full of opportunities to enter into new life experiences, explore new relationships, and to feel the new resources of inner strength and ability. Adolescence is also a time when youthful dreams of love and power have not yet been disturbed by the realities of life. In many ways adolescents live in a lush season between the spring and the summer of life.

Adolescence is viewed as a period of transition between childhood and adulthood. As parents our challenge is to make sure that our children make this transition with ease. The problem with us parents is that we are all amateur parents. There are no professional parents because parenting is not taught in colleges or universities. We learn parenting by instinct, and develop our individual parenting styles. However, the basic ingredients of good parenting remain universal. These are love, time, and understanding. Give these in ample doses and you can never go wrong.

Adolescents challenge our nascent parenting skills by being rebellious and non- conformists. They display a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude. We feel that our ‘sane, well meaning’ advice is falling on deaf ears. They laugh at our concerns and make fun of our ‘old, ancient’ values. To top it all, we need to handle the societal pressure as well. If our adolescent does not do well in board exams or does not clear any competitive exams, or we can’t proudly announce his or her admission in some prestigious professional college, we feel inadequate as parents. We take it as our personal failure, but to our chagrin our adolescents seem least bothered about all this.

Please do not get fooled by their outward behaviour. Inside them, they are as bothered about their future as we are, perhaps more so; after all it is their life. They have their hidden fears and anxieties, which they express in anger or by clamming up. They feel misunderstood by the very people who claim to love them the most: their parents.

The truth remains that adolescents deal with their own demons in their own way. To be accepted by their peers means a lot to them. They need to belong in their peer group. If they harbour a poor body image, or any other perceived inadequacy; it can play havoc with their mental peace. They encounter enough pressure in their own little worlds. All they need from us is complete acceptance. Accept them for what they are.

The Middle Path

There are three basic parenting styles that most of us follow:

Autocratic parents believe that they know what is best for their children. They tend to suppress their adolescents’ feelings and expression. Their children are less likely to be self-reliant.

Permissive parents can never say no to their children. They fail to provide the kind of discipline and support adolescents need. They allow their children to drift without offering them dependable models of responsible adult behaviour.

The third kind of parents follow the ‘middle’ path. They value both autonomy and discipline. They are more likely to foster the development of confidence, responsibility, and independence in their children.

Let us see how we, as parents of adolescent children can help our wards. But before we sit on our high horse, we must always remember that our children do what we do and not what we say:

•    Help them achieve general emotional maturity so that they learn to face and solve conflicts. The destructive expression of emotions must be channelled into constructive expressions.
•    Help them achieve general social maturity so that they develop social tolerance and freedom from slavish imitation of their peers.
•    Grant them freedom from home control so that they learn self-control and rely upon themselves for security. Our attitude towards them should be friendly.
•    Help them develop intellectual maturity so that they don’t accept anything blindly on the basis of authority. They should learn to desire for explanation of facts.
•    Help them develop a hobby so that they become multifaceted and creative.
•    Help them select an occupation after a careful self-assessment of their capabilities, interests, and aptitude. They should follow their heart and do the ‘labour of love’ instead of mindlessly following the herd. Don’t force your will upon them.
•    Help them in identification of self so that they understand their true selves; and their purpose of life.

The most important thing we parents need to understand is that we should be good role models for them; and as we all know too well, it is easier said than done. Confucius spoke for our youngsters when he said, “Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand.”

I believe that if we love our role as parents and enjoy each stage of our children’s growth and development, these adolescent years will be a pleasure for both us and our wards.

Chitra Jha is a life skills coach and past life regression therapist.

Josh Billings said, ‚ÄúDon’t mistake pleasures for happiness. They are a different breed of dog.‚Äù I completely agree with him. So, let‚Äôs first get clear what we mean by ‚Äòhappiness‚Äô that we are talking about. Happiness involves making loving choices, one day, one moment at a time and our entire life gets filled with sheer joy.

Of course, happiness means different things to different people and yet we are all looking for it all the time. In fact, our entire search, our work, our family life, all that we do are geared towards finding real happiness. We invent things, entertainments, and foods, all in search of happiness.

We look for it outside of us and that is the mistake we make. Happiness is deep inside us. It is our very core; it is imprinted in our DNA. All we need to do is look within. Have you ever wondered how a smile comes to your lips when you see a gurgling baby; when you see little pups playing; when you listen to birds chirping or butterflies dancing?

Beautiful fragrant flowers make you joyful. Beauty in any form brings happiness to heart. Where did this happiness come from? Did you pay for it? Did you invite it? Did you invent it? No, something that was deep inside you just surfaced. That is the real joy, real happiness, real ananda, and it is inside you.

It is possible to remain in touch with this beautiful state all the time. You can stay in touch with this inner joy if you believe that you are an expression of God (and so is everyone/everything else around you). God is experiencing himself through all of this creation.

Just as we experience joy through the things that we create, including our children, He experiences joy through us. This joy is inherent in our nature. Let us pledge ourselves to access this happiness/joy/ananda, whatever you may call it, 24×7.

Let us look beyond the word ‘happiness’ to the reality ‘happiness’. Realty is a thing to be experienced. Let us open our hearts to this experience. Then God will smile through us and heaven will descend upon earth. Such is my dream and I know its fulfillment is right here in this very moment.

Let us savor this moment. Ah, happiness, so elusive and yet so within reach!

Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit. – Hosea Ballou

Chitra Jha is a healer, writer, corporate trainer and verbal ability instructor.

Winners view the world as a benevolent place. To Albert Einstein’s famous thought provoking question, ‘Is this a friendly universe?’ the winners always answer in affirmative. They feel that the world is full of great opportunities and wonderful people. Winners see the world as mainly good with some bad bits. The losers view the world as mainly malevolent with some good bits. How do you view the world? Your answer to this question speaks volumes about you and your station in life.

Winners have the habit of visualizing their future in bright details. They approve of themselves. Life is an exciting adventure for them. They live it to the fullest. Losers view life as a chore. If someone casually asks them, ‘How is it going?’ they will open their box of woes. ‘Just getting along.’, ‘Life goes on.’ are standard responses. What do you think life will dole out to them? Like Aladdin’s genie, life would say, ‘Your wish is my command.’

Winners are dreamers. They dream big, because they know that today’s dreams are tomorrow’s reality. They work backwards from a future dream to the present day and make their plans to achieve their goals. Losers too dream, but they don’t back up these dreams with systematic action plan. What are such dreams called?  These dreams are no more than ethereal hot air.

Winners possess another great quality Рdiscipline. Their discipline keeps them going during temporary setbacks. Thus they convert their ‘yearning power’ into their ‘earning power’. What do you think the losers do? When going gets tough, they hang their boots. They proclaim that the luck is not in their favour. They give up too easily.

Winners value time. They guard against procrastination, the thief of their precious commodity, their time. Losers discuss amongst themselves that they will start working one day real soon, but that day doesn’t dawn. They are unaware of the thrill of victory after a job well done. They are not willing to pay the life’s cost of admission to the big league. They do not know the enjoyment of work. They do not put their best efforts into anything. 

Winners take care of their physical fitness. They know that neither their body nor their mind will work at an optimal level without it. Therefore they give attention to their habits, diet and exercise regimen.
Winners have pleasing personalities. They acquire the art of making themselves agreeable to others. They learn to negotiate with others without creating friction of any sort. They are flexible and adaptable. They harmonise with any given environment and possess necessary magnetism to attract others.
Winners understand the value of initiative. They never have to be told what to do and how to do it. They create plans and translate them into actions through their initiative. They do not need to be supervised all the time.

To be a winner for life, identify what your ideal life will look like. Create a compelling vision for your future. Formulate goals for its achievement. Never give up on your hopes and dreams of a bright future. Overcome temporary setbacks. Look at them as great learning experiences.

Earl Nightingale, one of the earlier personal development teachers, and co-founder of the publishing house ‘Nightingale-Conant’, defined success as ‘the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.’ As long as you are ‘progressing’ towards an ideal that you think is worthy of achievement, you are succeeding. Enjoying the journey makes it all the more worthwhile. You will do well to remember that the word ‘worthwhile’ means that your goal is worth your time and energy. Think about that. Are your goals worthy of your life?

If you consider the fact that the price for your achievements is your time, which is all that you have of any real value, you will soon see the importance of having a goal that is worthy of your most prized possession. So go back over your goals and see if they meet the criteria for being worthy of you, not the other way around. If not, then maybe you need to stretch yourself and go for something of more importance to you. You will be a real winner then.

Practically speaking, your actions and your behaviour determine how your destiny will unfold. Knowing that your fate is in your hands, what are you going to do about it? Are you ready to be a winner? Remember in order to get something you’ve got to give something. So give up dependence, procrastination, laziness, need for approval, self criticism, and the loser attitude.

If a window of correcting the course of your life exists, why not open it and let in some fresh air? The basic question, however, remains to be answered. Answer it now. The question is, ‘Are you willing?’
The choice is yours. The window is open. And you can begin now.