Being Joyful Like A Child

Chennai

The whole question is, how do we get back to the innocence we were born with?

Just remember, when we were kids, we used to shout, play and enjoy. A child smiles 400 times a day. When a child grows up and becomes an adolescent, he smiles only 17 times a day, and when he becomes an adult, he smiles occasionally and that too when someone smiles. The whole question is, how do we reverse this? How do we get back to the innocence we were born with? How to smile back again? This is the quest.

So if you look at it, there are three things that stops us from being joyful like a child.

1.Prejudice
2.Insecurity
3.Stress

Stress we can get rid of by using the breath. There are number of breathing techniques that help us relax and get back a lot of energy. Breathing exercises, pranayama, meditation, yoga, all these increase the energy level in a short time of 15 to 20 minutes. If we relax consciously through meditation, it raises our energy levels equivalent to 6 to 8 hours of sleep. Meditation is not sitting and thinking something. It is going to the source of thought.

Second is to get rid of prejudice. There are many types of prejudice. There is prejudice between generations. There is prejudice about class, and about gender as well. Wisdom is to rise above prejudice and see the whole world as one family. If this idea of the whole world as one family comes, there will be no war, no crime and none of the problems that we are facing in the world today. See how many people are being killed. There is so much violence in  the world. This is all because of lack of a broad vision and wisdom. Third is insecurity. If you look at your own life, in the past, how many times have you felt insecure? See how that time has passed and how complete you are today. If you turn back and see, then all those moments you have spent feeling insecure, appears to be such a waste of time, isnt it? Count and see how much time you have spent being insecure in the past 20 years. How many times you felt insecure? How many days you spent in a gloomy mood? It looks like such a waste of time and energy, and not only that, it created toxins in your body. Your health gets disturbed by a feeling of insecurity.

1. Look back in the past and see that it was futile feeling insecure. This gives you strength
2. Know that there are good people on this planet. They will always come to your help
3. There is a power which is going to guide you and help you out

So with this wisdom and understanding, get over insecurity.

Now, once you have gotten over stress, gotten over insecurity and you have overcome prejudice, then you are like a child, full of joy, and happiness simply wells. It was already there, it is covered by these three things and once you removed all these three things, it becomes obvious.

So with meditation, yoga and breathing techniques, get over stress. With wisdom, get over prejudice, and reflecting on your own life and having the confidence and faith, get over insecurity.

—  The writer is the found er of Art of  Living Foundation and can be reached at www.artofliving.org