Stop looking for happiness

Yesterday I was interviewed on Instagram Live by the owner of Etizan Training Centre about my thoughts on happiness.We are usually told that we need to look for or be in pursuit of happiness, but the truth is happiness is an inside job. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that any anything outside of yourself will make you happy. I love the saying mind over matter, the moment my mind is not relaxed, it really won’t matter how comfortable my surroundings are or how nice that new handbag is. At the same time on the flip side, if I am happy and my mind is at ease, my environment and surroundings really won’t bother me too much.If I told you that unlimited happiness was available to you? Would you believe me? You are literally one decision away from happiness. Happiness is your very nature, but many times we don’t experience it because we are constantly looking for it outside of ourselves.So how do we get a happy healthy mind? Now this is where I open my yoga and meditation tool box and pull out a few tricks.You can’t change your thoughts unless you change what you feed your mind. You can’t change your health until what you feed your body, because health is largely a by-product of your diet, i.e the food you eat. So for a peaceful, powerful happy being you absolutely need to feed yourself something peaceful and positive at the beginning of the day. The first 20 minutes of your day is very important. If you want inner peace and power the information we feed ourselves has to reflect that.Nourishing food and drink and either meditation, an uplifting pod cast or YouTube video or even a conversation with a positive family member or friend.So in the morning consume 20 minutes of something pure that has information on:1. Peace2. Happiness3. Compassion 4. ForgivenessGo to sleep on these thoughts too and that’s who you will become. In addition to that practice some of the things I do to maintain my happiness are:1. Taking a decision that I will not allow anything or anyone to take away my happiness.2. Dedicating my life to a larger goal.3. Looking at those who have bigger problems than me.4. Never be unhappy about being unhappy, it’s normal to have a bad day sometimes.5. Remember everything is temporary.6. Keep the faith. 7. Share my happiness with others.I love this saying by one of my favourite yogis from India: Happiness is when you want nothing and you want to give. Where the wanting and desires end and the sharing begins…….happiness is right there. Memory is not happiness. When you are happy, you forget everything. Its when happiness is gone that you dwell in memory. In the world where people are either dreaming of happiness or remembering happiness. That is either being in the past or the future. But happiness is that which is in the present. And it is your very nature.* The author is a Life & Business coach. Instagram handle: @miss_shefa,  Website: missshefa.com