In this Vlog, I share why postponing happiness doesn’t make sense. Hoping to solve all our problems and then planning to be happy is a myth. Instead, let us to learn to be happy despite our circumstances.
View time: 4:59 minutes
Author: AVIS Viswanathan
Happiness Curator, Inspired Speaker, Life Coach and Author of "Fall Like A Rose Petal"
Don’t allow or suffer injustice
On this Podcast, I share a very personal experience. Learning from my own inability to have stood up for Vaani, I champion why our women must be respected and given dignity. It begins in our homes. When we see injustice happening, we must always remember we have a choice not to suffer it.
Listen time: 8:32 minutes
How you too can avoid suffering
In this Vlog, I share my experience of how I learnt to avoid suffering. Embracing and accepting your current reality is the key!
View time: 3:55 minutes
When inner joy trumps material gain
In this Vlog, I talk about why I do what I do, why I share learnings from Life daily through my Blogposts, Podcasts and Vlogs!
View time: 2:28 minutes
Spirituality asks nothing of you
In this Podcast, I talk about living in this world, yet being above it. What spirituality has taught me is that we must act diligently on whatever is in our control and leave the rest, the outcomes, to Life!
Listen time: 5:36 minutes
On ‘The Happiness Road’ with Sivasankari
My conversation with writer Sivasankari for my ‘The Happiness Road’ Series that appears in DT Next every Sunday. Read the conversation on the DT Next page here. ‘The Happiness Road’ is also my next Book. Photo Credit: Vinodh Velayudhan
“Only acceptance can lead you to happiness”
For someone who has a body of work that spans almost half a century, who has been feted and celebrated all through her career, who was close to two Prime Ministers and whose perspectives are constantly sought and respected by both intelligentsia and common-folk, Sivasankari is very grounded and anchored. She attributes her equanimity to her favorite shloka, from Adi Sankara’s Bhaja Govindam. Roughly translated, it means, “Never be proud of your youth, your money and the people around you; at the blink of an eye, they will all be gone!” Sivasankari says that her awareness is imbued by the spirit of this shloka’s message. “This awareness helps me in being detached from everything that happens to me, around me. It keeps me happy, content and at peace with myself,” she adds.
Sivasankari believes that the key to happiness lies in understanding the true nature of Life. “Loss and grief have to be faced in Life. You can’t escape it,” she says. Her father died in 1970, when she was just 28. Soon after, her aunt, who had been through 13 miscarriages, died tragically, leaving behind a 7-year-old son. Sivasankari was distraught. A close friend told her to ‘make use of her grief’. She wrote her first novel, Etharkaga? (Why?). In 1984, when she was 42, she lost her husband. Her mother encouraged her to make her grief irrelevant by embracing the sufferings of others. That’s when, moved by the plight of a 9-year-old drug addict, she researched on the social evil and wrote Avan (He), which was later made as Subah (Morning) for television. And when her mother died recently, Sivasankari decided to liquidate her assets and donate most proceeds to charity. “Grief is a natural response in some Life situations. But my awareness has helped me to accept my grief and channelize it usefully. Over time, I have learnt that Life is all about letting go and moving on. That’s how you can be truly happy and peaceful,” explains Sivasankari.
How do you develop acceptance, I ask her. “Do you have a choice in the face of Life? Whatever it is, you have to accept the reality of your Life. Else you will suffer. Suffering comes only from resisting Life. I have learnt to never contradict reality. Only acceptance can lead you to happiness,” replies Sivasankari.
Now, that’s a valuable Life lesson which each of us may want to take away.
Of Purpose and looking in the right direction
In this Vlog, I explain why it is crucial to be looking in the right direction for your Life’s Purpose to find you. Make a choice between merely earning-a-living and living fully!
View time: 3.46 minutes
