Toward A Simple, Peaceful And Balanced Life

P.S: The aim of this article is NOT to encourage you to quit your profession and materialistic pursuits in order to earn a stress free life. Rather it is about motivating you to lead a simple and peaceful life while being highly successful in your respective field of profession.

In the hunt for a happier life, we are constantly detaching ourselves from happiness.

No matter how many good books we read about inner peace and simple/balanced life or how often we attend the philosophical lectures on life, at the end of the day we are back in our usual plastic routine. Isn’t it?

The competitive human nature knows no limit. And it is this urge to make our presence feel in this world and to outrun our competitors we embark on a journey sacrificing some of the most precious moments in life.

 Happiness should not be counted by the number of cool gadgets we own or by the status we enjoy in society or by the virtue of our job or monetary possession. Instead it should be defined by those moments in which we were actually alive and stress free. While it is easy to flaunt an artificial and calculated smile while signing a business deal, remember that at the end of the day all we need is a good and cheerful laugh from the bottom of our heart with our closest people.

While the artificial stuffs are momentary, the things that remain throughout are the memories of the moments spend doing simpler things.

Man’s desires know no limit. Starting from a simple toy in childhood to a sophisticated bike in boyhood to the luxurious cars and villas in the later years, we are constantly in search of materialistic stuffs to satisfy our inner hunger.

Less Complications In Life= More Time For Relationships

Apart from your professional circle do you have a few good and genuine people in your life? Today we live in a world where a man is judged and valued by his monetary and materialistic possession. And it is due to this urge to make our presence feel in the society, we start competing with people around us in an attempt to prove ourselves superior to them inviting more stress in return.

 From the initial days of kindergarten till the last years of life we spend a good amount of time and energy in proving ourselves to the world. This tendency makes us so artificial and tenacious that slowly we move away from the simpler activities in life. We make a number of friends during boyhood only to lose them within a few years.

As time flies by we become so engrossed in our professional journey that we hardly find time to connect or reconnect with those who once used to be an integral part of our life.

 What we fail to understand is that money, position and achievements make sense only when we have a good health (both mental as well as physical), a few stable friends and some loving people to share these with. Any achievement is of little use if we do not find time to celebrate it with our closed ones.

“The irony with the world is that we spend the first half of our life struggling to earn name, fame and status and the next half worrying about multiplying these…”

Imagine after a few years you have a big villa where you stay alone, a lot of experiences to share but not enough people to hear, luxurious cars but no one to accompany you for a ride…how would you feel?

Is this the life you want? Is it the definition of a ‘perfect’ life? Give it a thought!

Take Pleasure in Simpler Things

The irony with the world is that we spend the first half of our life struggling to earn name, fame and status and the next half worrying about multiplying these. Check the points below and answer honestly what makes you feel happier:

i) A stay in a luxurious hotel (alone) versus an ordinary night out with childhood friends.

ii) A calculated smile with a colleague versus a heart-aching laugh with buddies.

iv) Showing off your class and status in a high profile party versus a get together with your non-judgmental family members and relatives.

Please see that here I am not asking you to quit your profession and start a philosophical life in the solitary peaks of Himalayas.

The intention here is to show the importance of maintaining a fine balance between your professional and personal circles. Work hard throughout the day but make sure you spend the evening with your self and for your self.

Play with kids, cook a dish with your partner, enjoy the weekends with old friends, engage in some voluntary services and do anything that makes you feel alive. The idea here is to become more human and less robotic.

 Simple Yet Influential

As I mentioned earlier, this post is about leading a simple life while being focused on your career, here it is important to know about some of the great men who did this with ease. Starting from Swami Vivekananda, Nelson Mandela, to Abdul Kalam, Steve Jobs there are an endless number of legends who in spite of reaching the zenith in their respective fields remained simple and grounded.

            

 Read any of these biographies and understand the importance of a balanced life. Understand why it is not necessary to ruin relationships and peace of mind in order to earn success and money in life.

Expectation Hurts

A majority of our problems will be solved automatically the day we learn to tame our expectations. We all must have expected something from our lives and tasted hurt and betrayal. We get hurt due to our own actions. People hurt us when we give them a chance to hurt us. A solid grounded human being who is practical enough to understand this fact has least chances of getting hurt. The problem with the world is that while searching happiness we fail to appreciate those little things which actually hold the key to our happy life.

It is said that life should be counted by the number of moments that actually made us feel alive. Ask any person who is in his dying bed about the regrets he has and you are sure to get a long list provided the person had led a very plastic life. Money does matter…but up to a certain extent. What really matters is the time spent in the company of good people who eventually helps you to create some everlasting memories. So fall in love, make mistakes, learn from them, relive the childhood days, go on an unplanned vacation and do all those stuffs which you wanted to do from a long time.

Now that we have reached the final part of the discussion, I would love to know your views regarding this topic. Is it so tough to lead a simple and balanced life? Feel free to share your perspective toward life.