My friend Jaspreet Sihota shared with me Khushwant Singh’s 8 Clues to Happiness. Khushwant Singh is a famously happy (and old) Sikh author and I agree with him 100%. In fact, I believe these 8 principles should underly housing and social policy in America where millions of families are obese, financially unstable (and insecure about their work prospects due to globalization), and worried that a home of their own may not be a reality for future generations.
EIGHT CLUES TO HAPPINESS
By- KHUSHWANT SINGH
Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a
person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a
few essentials which I put forward for the readers’ appraisal.
1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. If you do not enjoy good health
you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from
your happiness.
2. Second, A HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run into millions but
should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to
spare for recreation, like eating out, going to the pictures,
traveling or going on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of
money can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is
demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
3. Third, A HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can never give you the
snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides:
if it has a garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and
flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with
them.
4. Fourth, AN UNDERSTANDING COMPANION, be it your spouse or a friend.
If there are too many misunderstandings, they will rob you of your
peace of mind.
5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better than you in
life; risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame.
Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you for gossip. By
the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by
their gossip-mongering.
7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you a sense of
fulfillment, such as gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or
listening to music.
8. Eighth, every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes to
INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10minutes should be spent on stilling
the mind and then 5minutes in listing things you have to do that day.
In the evening, 5minutes to still the mind again, and 10minutes to go
over what you had undertaken to do.
RICHNESS is not
Earning More,
Spending More or
Saving More, but …
RICHNESS IS WHEN YOU NEED NO MORE
