5 DIY Hacks for Happiness

Well, I am a fan of DIY hacks, especially when they pertain to fitness and beauty care. I will try anything if the promised outcome is flaunting flawless skin and looking 10 years younger. Now that I am on a career break, I seem to have a lot of time on my hand to put quite a few of these hacks to the test, with some mixed results. I am, however, amazed at the sheer volume of information available on the web, social media, television, magazines, and newspapers feeding on our obsession with physical beauty. Experts and Wannabes alike are popping up everywhere to share their bit of fully-baked or half-baked sense. These tricks and tips are devoured with great gusto by readers and watchers and why not? Who doesn’t want to look good and youthful?

We are inundated with the weirdest celebrity beauty hacks from Bella Hadid’s dunking made-up face in cold water to the mayonnaise hair mask by Salma Hayek to the dreadful Vampire facials (applying platelet-rich plasma from your own blood) made famous by the Kardashian clan to Gwyneth Paltrow’s skin treatment using the foreskin stem cells of Korean Infants (yes, you read it right!). No one, whether young or old, beautiful or aspiring to look beautiful wants to be left behind in this mad race to look perfect. This passion for flawless external appearance is a true reflection of our deep-rooted and age-old obsession with physical beauty.

However, it got me wondering why we don't give similar attention to learning and implementing the hacks for our happiness or mental well-being. Why we don’t seek to be happy with as much fervor as we seek physical beauty, especially when we know physical beauty is temporary? After all, isn’t it what we all as humans aspire for – to be happy?

Come to think of it, it is not even hard to practice some simple DIYs that could improve our happiness quotient and mental well-being. It is all the more important to teach these simple hacks to our children at home and schools to make their present and future world a happier place. Here are my top 5 hacks to happiness:

1. Embrace yourself

Accept yourself, wholly, with all your strengths and limitations. Learn to accentuate your positive traits (physical and mental) and be realistic about your limitations. There is no better love than self-love. When you learn to love yourself for who you are, you will find an abundance of love in your heart for others as well. Learn to celebrate your existence and life. Practice positive affirmations that reaffirm your good qualities, and your love for self. If we can teach our children the lesson of self-love, we can look forward to a happier next generation and the world.

2. Stop Comparing

Envying someone who has what you don’t have does not help you achieve it. If you want something badly, focus on achieving it. But do not obsess over things that you cannot have and fret about things that are not in your control. This is something our children must learn at a young age. The disappointment of not having an expensive toy that the next-door kid has, not being able to own an I-pad or X-box that a classmate has, not looking like a photo-shopped celebrity on Instagram are all comparison factors that are driving our children to mental disorders. Teaching them this hack has become a necessity today.

3. Start Sharing

Sharing what you have with the less needy can help us overcome the bane of comparison. The act of sharing whatever resources you have, be it knowledge, money, or time can go a long way in building a more compassionate and loving environment. Start celebrating festivals and birthdays by sharing what you can with those who are less fortunate. The lesson of sharing can help our children understand that the joy of sharing is more fulfilling than showing off something we own.

4. Always look at the brighter side of things

Instead of wallowing in sorrow when there is a setback, and setbacks are always going to be there, choose to look at it as an opportunity to grow and as a learning. Dr. Daniel Amen, a renowned American Psychiatrist says not to believe every thought you think. He recommends whenever you are sad, stressed out and anxious with disturbing thoughts, ask yourself ‘Is it true? ‘Is it absolutely true’? Before you worry yourself to destruction, ask yourself if what you are worried about will even matter in six months or one year. Start thinking about the opposite of what you are thinking and you will lift your mood instantly.

Dr. Amen has written a Children’s book, ‘Captain Snout and the Super Power Questions’ on this concept which teaches children to think about what they think and not believe everything they think.

5. Be Grateful

Learn to be grateful for all the things and people you have in your life. Be grateful for the hot plate of food you can have every day, all the material comfort you can afford & enjoy, the friendships, partnerships, the love that you surround yourself with, and the list can go on. Often, we do not pause and consciously appreciate the things we have in our life. We take a lot of people and things for granted. When you are grateful and are filled with gratitude, your brain is happy. You feel content and fulfilled.

When we are ready to go all out in our quest to attain the elusive physical perfection, why not put in a little effort to practice these simple hacks towards achieving the most significant goal of our life, being happy? Let us take that first step TODAY.