How to Secure Happiness This New Year Part – Eighty Nine

How to Secure Happiness This New Year

Come New Year and we get busy wishing each other best wishes and hoping that the year ahead brings only good, favourable and joyous events in our lives. To be positive is definitely so important in one’s life. But just wishing good things does not always make them happen; we need to do much more. So what precisely should we do and how to go about it in the right manner so that our lives are blessed with lasting peace? Swami clearly elaborates this in the following excerpts of a discourse delivered exactly a decade ago.

Every man expects the New Year to confer on him peace, happiness and prosperity. In reality, New Year does not bring happiness or sorrow with it. Yesterday is the same as today and today is the same as tomorrow. The days are the same, but one experiences either pleasure or pain depending on one’s own actions. Meritorious deeds will not confer misery while sinful acts cannot give happiness. One is bound to face the consequences of one’s actions. But one treats pleasure and pain alike when one becomes the recipients of God’s grace. Divine grace destroys mountains of sins and confers peace. But due to the impact of the Kali Age, man has lost faith in God. He is after money and power. How can such a being attain Divinity? Man can rise from the level of the human to the Divine only by practicing human values.

Years come and go, so also pleasure and pain. Nothing confers permanent bliss except the experiences of the athma. Man cannot attain peace and happiness from his actions unless he has sacred feelings within. Many people expect the New Year to confer happiness and prosperity on them. But in fact, the New Year confers on you only the results of your past actions. In order to atone for your past sins, you have to cultivate sacred qualities and involve yourself in sacred activities even more in the New Year. In fact, bliss is within you; it originates from your sacred feelings. Therefore you have to manifest bliss from within; it cannot be bestowed on you by others. None can take bliss away from you, and you cannot obtain it form outside.

The heart is the center of sacred feelings. It is filled with compassion, and it is compassion that gives rise to sacred feelings. One has to develop this sacred virtue, spread the light of love, and cultivate Divine feelings. Without doing so, how can one expect time to confer happiness on him? One gets what one does. If one expects good results, one must cultivate good feelings. With purity of heart, steadiness of mind, and selfless actions, one can become the recipient of divine grace, which will remove any amount of sufferings in a trice. One cannot achieve anything without divine grace. So, one has to undertake activities that will confer divine grace. Peace and happiness cannot be obtained from the external world; it can be achieved only through divine grace.

People celebrate the advent of the New Year with singing and dancing. This enthusiasm and happiness is momentary. What man needs is permanent peace and happiness. How can he expect to attain enduring happiness by indulging in worldly deeds? He has to undertake sacred activities in order to attain lasting joy.

Happiness results only from difficulties. Pleasure is an interval between two pains. It is impossible to experience pleasure without pain. You may be one of affluence or a spiritual aspirant; you still get what you deserve. You cannot expect mangos after sowing a neem seed and vice-versa. As is the seed, so is the fruit. Similarly, as is the feeling, so is the result. Pain and pleasure result from one’s own feelings. People are deluded thinking that they are subjected to pain and pleasure from the external world. In reality, they result from their own feelings. They should transform their heart with sacred feelings. Today, man is changing, but not his mind. Years are rolling by, but his feelings have not become pure. He will attain peace only when there is transformation in his feelings.

When your feelings are sacred, without asking you will receive noble results. Due to the impact of the Kali Age, man’s thought, words, and deeds are not in harmony with each other. You many say or do anything, but the result you get depends on your feelings. Therefore make your feelings sacred and become a good human being. Only one with good feelings and good mind can be called a good human being.

How to Secure Happiness This New Year – divine guidance for positive living

How to Secure Happiness This New Year is a meaningful thought for everyone who wants life to become more peaceful, purposeful, and spiritually strong. A new year often brings fresh hopes, new plans, and many promises, but real happiness does not come only by changing the calendar. It comes when we change our thoughts, habits, actions, and attitude toward life.

Many people begin the year by wishing for success, money, comfort, health, and better relationships. These wishes are natural, but happiness cannot depend only on outer achievements. If the mind is restless, even success feels incomplete. If the heart is full of anger, even comfort cannot give peace. Therefore, the first step toward happiness is inner cleaning.

How to Secure Happiness This New Year begins with gratitude. Instead of starting the year by only thinking about what is missing, we should first recognize what we already have. Breath, food, family, friendship, wisdom, opportunities, and divine protection are all blessings. A grateful heart becomes peaceful because it sees grace in simple things. Gratitude turns ordinary life into a sacred gift.

Another important step is to control desires. Endless desire makes the mind tired. One wish is fulfilled, and another immediately appears. This cycle keeps the heart dissatisfied. Happiness grows when we learn contentment. Contentment does not mean laziness or lack of effort. It means doing our best while remaining peaceful with what God gives.

How to Secure Happiness This New Year also means improving our relationships. A large part of human sorrow comes from harsh words, ego, misunderstanding, and lack of patience. This year, we can choose to speak more gently, listen more carefully, forgive more quickly, and judge less. A peaceful home and loving relationships are greater wealth than many material possessions.

True happiness also requires self-discipline. Without discipline, good intentions remain weak. We may decide to pray, study, serve, exercise, or control anger, but without regular practice, nothing changes. Discipline gives strength to the mind. Even small daily efforts, when done sincerely, can create a powerful change in life.

How to Secure Happiness This New Year teaches that service is a beautiful path to joy. When we help others without selfish expectation, our own heart becomes lighter. A kind word, a simple act of support, feeding someone in need, respecting elders, or comforting a sad person can bring deep satisfaction. The joy of giving is often greater than the joy of receiving.

We should also protect the mind from negativity. What we watch, read, hear, and discuss affects our inner peace. If the mind is filled with gossip, comparison, fear, and anger, happiness becomes difficult. This year, we should allow more noble thoughts, good company, prayer, spiritual reading, and positive actions to enter our life.

How to Secure Happiness This New Year is closely connected with forgiveness. Carrying old pain into a new year makes the heart heavy. Forgiveness does not mean that wrong actions are right. It means we do not allow bitterness to control our peace. When we forgive, we become free from the burden of resentment. A forgiving heart is a peaceful heart.

Faith in God is another powerful source of happiness. Life will not always move according to our plans. There may be delays, losses, tests, and unexpected changes. But faith gives courage to continue. A person who trusts divine wisdom does not break easily. Such a person believes that every experience can teach, purify, and guide the soul.

How to Secure Happiness This New Year also means using time wisely. Time is one of the most precious gifts. Once lost, it cannot be brought back. We should not waste the year only in distraction, complaint, or useless worry. Every day can be used for learning, prayer, service, self-improvement, and loving action. A well-used day brings inner satisfaction.

Happiness becomes stable when we reduce ego. Ego wants praise, control, and importance. It becomes hurt very easily. Humility makes life easier. A humble person learns from mistakes, respects others, and remains open to guidance. When ego becomes smaller, peace becomes greater.

This new year, we should also take care of our thoughts. Thoughts become words, words become actions, and actions become character. If thoughts are pure, life becomes peaceful. If thoughts are selfish and negative, life becomes disturbed. Prayer, meditation, and self-reflection help us watch the mind and guide it in the right direction.

How to Secure Happiness This New Year finally means living with love, truth, purity, and devotion. Happiness is not something we can secure only from outside. It must be built within the heart through right living. When we love sincerely, serve humbly, forgive freely, work honestly, and remember God daily, happiness becomes natural.

A new year becomes truly blessed when it brings a new heart, a cleaner mind, and a stronger connection with the Divine. Let this year not be wasted in fear, anger, jealousy, or selfishness. Let it become a year of peace, gratitude, discipline, service, and spiritual growth. Then happiness will not remain a short moment; it will become a steady light guiding life with divine grace.