People who live a simple life will get more happiness. There are ways to live a low-consumption but long life. Use your battery less, and you will use your phone for a longer time, right?
01 Stop self-denial
As practitioners of life cultivation, we have many occasions to experience dark moments in our life journey.
When we were in school, if we failed an exam, we immediately suspected that we were too clumsy, our talent was too poor, and there was no hope for our future.
At work, when we made a mistake, we immediately questioned our capability, that our efforts were useless, and we could only muddle along in the future.
When we became old, our movements became sluggish, we started to feel left out, and we would spend the rest of our life being unhappy.
In fact, every stage of our life has its bright moments. If we always deny ourselves, it will block the light that shines into our life. We will never look up at the sun in the future if we are hindered by the short-term ups and downs.
In the second half of our life, we will learn to applaud ourselves, and we will do these three small things well, and love ourselves well.
- Accept imperfection: reconcile with our own ordinariness and accept all changes in life. Then we will have time to look at the flowers blooming and fading with a peaceful mind.
- Take good care of our body and mind: be nice to ourselves, do not be pretentious about our health problems, do not procrastinate on our mental problems, do not be tired of life, and do not let ourselves down.
- Do our best in everything: After we have done our best in anything, let the rest just take its course.
In this world, loving ourselves is an essential practice.
02 Stop worrying about gains and losses
Jia Pingwa mentioned in his book:
“In a person’s life, whether it is suffering or happiness, whether it is gain or loss, the most important thing is that the clear spring in our heart cannot be without the shine of moonlight.”
Many times, we are used to weighing the pros and cons, calculating the gains and losses, haggling over every detail, letting go but with reluctance, and losing with unwillingness.
But the harder we try, the more we realize: we gain less and less, and we lose more and more.
In the process of calculating, we lived in panic all day long, exhausted our mind, but couldn’t grasp anything.
Jin Yong, a famous author in Hong Kong, wrote in his book:
“Deep love will never live long. The strong will eventually be humiliated.”
Life is like this. If we love too much, things will be reversed. If we want too much, we will lose even more. Therefore, we might as well calm down, adjust our rhythm, and live a good life now.
- Keep our mind calm when we are busy. Don’t be too impulsive when encountering things. Don’t be controlled by emotions. Take our time and take every step well.
- When we are free our mind should not be empty. When we are alone, we should read books, practice calligraphy, recharge our life, and store energy for our life.
We will cherish what we already got. What we have lost will come back in another way.
03 Stop getting stuck in negativity
There has been a lot of discussion on the Internet recently about allowing everything to happen.
The famous psychologist Bert Hellinger explained it in his poem:
“I allow anything to happen.
I allow it, things begin like this, develop like this, end like this.
Because I know that all things come from the combination of karma and fate.
Everything that happens is inevitable.
If I think it should be another possibility, I will only hurt myself.
All I can do is allow it. “
Many times, if we change our perspectives and improve our mood, we will find:
There are no hurdles that cannot be overcome, and there are no problems that cannot be solved. Whatever our mentality is, life is what we are.
From now on, we will make ourselves happy and develop these three good habits:
- Get rid of internal friction: Be cautious about controllable things and optimistic about uncontrollable things.
- Lower expectations: The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Life cannot be fully satisfactory, so we expect it to be half-satisfactory.
- Reasonably vent bad emotions: learn to release stress, such as talking to relatives and friends, running, listening to music, etc.
- Live a little happier. All the unwillingness and despair will eventually become yesterdays that need not be recalled.
04 Stop paying too much attention to others
Have you ever experienced:
When you are invited to have dinner with friends, you are obviously very tired and don’t want to go, but you have to endure exhaustion for several hours in order to get along with the group.
Wearing a new dress, but found that it had clashed with someone else, so the dress was pushed into the bottom of the box.
Because of a casual comment from others, you have been brooding for many days, tossing and turning, having difficulty falling asleep, and being exhausted.
If we always put our feet into other people’s shoes, after all, we will not be able to walk well in life.
If we pay too much attention to the lives, words and deeds of others, we will not be able to live a good life after all.
Real maturity should be like what Yu Qiuyu wrote in Shan Dwelling Notes:
“It is a kind of calmness that no longer needs to observe the words and expressions of others, a kind of atmosphere that finally stops appealing to the surroundings.
A smile that ignores the hustle and bustle, a kind of indifference that washes away the extremes.
A kind of thickness that does not need to be announced, a kind of height that can see far without being steep. “
From now on, we will shift the focus of life to ourselves, focus on our own life, and take back our gaze from looking at others.
- No evaluation: There are many things in this world that we don’t understand, and we don’t know the whole picture, so don’t comment.
- Don’t rely on others: Relying on others is worse than relying on oneself. Asking others for help is not better than asking oneself.
- Don’t explain: For people who don’t like us, all explanation is futile, and no amount of catering will bring joy. People who like us will appreciate our confidence and calmness, not humbleness to please.
- In the days to come, ignore gossip, ignore idle things, keep our own rhythm, and live out our own splendor.
05 Stop procrastinating
When Obama was campaigning for the presidency, someone asked him: What do you think is your greatest strength?
He replied: Plan everything in advance.
If we keep struggling with our thinking, we will never take the first step, and we will only get farther and farther away from our goals.
If we keep procrastinating things and never get ready to start, then the ending of things will only get further away.
Whatever we sow, we will get what we want. If we plant the seeds of procrastination, we will reap the fruits of anxiety. If we plant the seeds of action, we will eventually reap the fruits of happiness.
As the old saying goes:
“Thinking is the problem; doing is the answer.”
We should change ourselves, improve our actions, and do these three things well, and we will finally find the long-awaited answer:
- Do it ten minutes before encountering a problem: Only when we start, can we have a future.
- Don’t set limits on ourselves: the world will not restrict a person’s pace of running forward, what restricts a person is his own courage.
- Diligence can make up for one’s insufficiency: proficiency in business is due to diligence and lack of play, and success is due to fore-thought and failure is caused by being a follower.
- If we want to live better and better, we should rely on action. What defeats us is always the phrase “wait a little longer.”
06 Stop Comparing with others
A passage was written by Yang Jiang:
“God will not let all happiness be concentrated on one person, getting love does not necessarily have money.
Having money does not necessarily lead to happiness, obtaining happiness does not necessarily lead to health.
Having good health does not necessarily mean everything goes your way.
Maintaining a state of contentment and happiness is the best way to temper the mind and purify the soul. “
In life, if we try to keep up with the Joneses, we will not feel true happiness. If we envy too much, it will be difficult to see the essence of life.
We always think about having a car, a house, money, a career, and so on. In fact, the simplest happiness is often: no illnesses, no disaster, no worry, no resentment. Those possessions are for others to see, and only nothingness is reserved for ourselves.
Be a smart person, lower the threshold of happiness, let go of comparison, and gain all kinds of freedom.
- Never envy other people’s life: don’t follow the trend, don’t compete, don’t look up to others’ happiness, and feel the beauty of the long flow of water.
- Ignore superficialness and live a good life: spend our money where it is worthwhile, only buy what we really need, and let go of our pretentiousness so that we can save our money.
- The highest state of life is nothing more than these words: Pretend to be in muddle thinking, then we will be contented and happy.
07 Stop Repeating Regrets
The reason why people are too tired to live is mostly because of this: ask for more than they can get.
If we blindly indulge in the mistakes we have made, we will eventually miss more good things.
After getting good tea and wanting to match it with a good pot, we searched around for a teapot, but neglected the fragrance of the tea.
When we have flowers, we want to match them with a good vase. We worry about getting the vase all day long, but we miss the most beautiful blooming of the flowers.
On the road ahead, keep these three things in mind and let ourselves move forward lightly:
- Bad people and bad things, stay away from them as soon as possible and stop losses in time.
- Nothing is eternal, and nothing is immutable.
- A good life depends not on living in memories, but on moving forward.
The best state, as written in the couplet in Lingyin Temple: How can life be always satisfactory. We can only expect all things to be half-satisfactory.
08 Follow our nature and feeling
As practitioners of life cultivation, we try to live according to our nature. That is, we try to live unrestrainedly and freely, not to be constrained by external conditions, to act according to our own personality, and generally have an artistic temperament.
We should try to follow our own heart, follow our own nature, and live calmly.
Freedom is relative, there is no absolute freedom. It is impossible to do whatever we want. We are always subject to many constraints. In fact, casualness is not a bad thing, but our casualness should be as easy-going as possible, and we can be calm when encountering obstacles, which are more optimistic.
It’s not bad if we tend to be self-willed, as long as other people are willing to accept it, then it’s not annoying, but cute.
In any case, there is nothing wrong with grasping a principle, pursuing self-realization, and pursuing happiness, as long as we do not do illegal things, and we do not base our happiness on the pain of others.
We may add sugar or vinegar to our meals, just as we like.
There is no need to be confused about our personality, as long as we learn to distinguish between right and wrong, black and white. It does not matter if we are introverted or extroverted.
09 In summary
In the book, When I Let Go of myself, it is stated:
“Whether a person lives happily or not depends first on whether he can fall asleep, and second on whether he wants to wake up.
Being able to fall asleep refers to peace of mind, and you have a clear conscience before sleep. Wanting to wake up refers to your beautiful heart, which is exactly what you want right now.
Life is nothing but the joy of this practice. “
People who live a simple life will end up with more happiness.
If we stop consuming ourselves, we will have more energy to live the rest of our life.
After middle age, let us enjoy a low-consumption life, carefully feel the value of the world, and do not let this life down.
As we age, learn and practice Body Cultivation to maintain a young and healthy body. Learn and practice Mind Cultivation to maintain a calm and peaceful mind. You will be active, happy, healthy, and carefree by practicing the various Mustang Cultivation Techniques presented in this website.
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