Things to Do to Be Happy

Of late, I have been doing some reading on ways to be happy. Just to summarise some of the things that I have learnt. 

Things to do to achieve happiness:

1. Being mindful: 

- Live in the present (like what Buddha says). The present moment is the most wonderful moment. How could this be if we are feeling stressed or sad right now? Just concentrate on the present and try not to let our minds wander. It is not easy as we think about a lot things that happened in the past or will be happening in the future at the present moment. The worst part is most of these thoughts are negative and worrying.

- Also try mindful walking around the park. It helps to bring your attention to the present. Just look at your feet / shoes when you walk. 

Being mindful also means you are more aware of your surroundings

2. Have compassion towards yourself: 

- Be compassionate and kind towards ourselves. Listen to our body. When we are tired, we should rest. Do not strain or stress ourselves.
- Next, we should be able to forgive ourselves for our mistakes. We learn from our mistakes and move on. 

3. We should accept that we are just human and imperfect: 

- It would be ideal if we could finish what we want to do in a day but we have only 24 hours in a day and we are not machines. Even machines have downtime. So try not to push ourselves too hard. Prioritize our work and fulfill what is good enough to call it a day's work. Thus, we would have less stress and be light-hearted.

4. Eat well, sleep well and exercise well:

- Eat well ~ Choose to eat healthy 90% of the time and allow ourselves to indulge in our favourite "not so healthy" food 10% of the time. 

- Sleep well ~ Getting enough sleep is the key to start our day fresh and energetic. Get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep a day. If we can't sleep well at night, we can consider taking nap during the day.

- Exercise well ~ We need to work out about thrice a week and about half an hour each time. Exercising produces endorphins (the natural feel good chemical) and reduces stress. It also helps us to sleep better at night.

If we eat, sleep and exercise well, we would reduce the risk of getting sick and thus, be happier. 

Give in to temptation 10% of the time!

5. Be patient  - take your time:

- Many times, we are rushing to achieve things in our lives like getting married, having children, etc. Sometimes, we have to defy the idiom "Time and tide wait for no man" and believe in "Nature knows best". In this way, it takes the pressure off our shoulders and we will be much happier.

6. Have hobbies:

- Make it a point to spend some time on our hobbies each week. Doing things we enjoy makes us happy.

- If you do not have a hobby, try not to do anything at certain time in a day or week. 

Let's take a break!

7. Know what you really want to do with your life:

- If we know what we really want, we would be happier. If we have goals that we really want to achieve, we would be able to handle barriers on the way and yet be happier. This is because we know that we are suffering for the time being and our ultimate goal is waiting for us.

If you find yourself enjoying this post till this part, I guess you are interested to know which books or websites that I have read. Here are the info and links:

1. Even Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar

2. Why Worry by K.Sri Dhammananda

3. Concentrate on the here and now by Bridget Menezes http://www.thesundaily.my/news/861237

4. The Space Between Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion By Kristen Nef http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4

Exploring Vegetarian Dishes

During the Nine Emperor Gods festival recently, I managed to indulge in delicious and yet simple vegetarian dishes. I was lucky enough that the vegetarian stall was on my doorstep. The combination of ingredients used are very interesting and creative. 

Here are the wonderful recipes that I have learned from them but have yet to try cooking them on my own:

Dish 1: Stir-fried sweet potato leaves, tau pok (fried bean curd) with tau ju (fermented tofu) (I guess salt is not needed here as fermented tofu should be saltier enough)

Dish 2: Cook bitter gourd (cut in cubes), thin slices of soy-sauced bean curd and tausi (fermented black beans)

Dish 3: Stir-fried slices of brinjal, tomatoes and red chilli (a little too oily but good) (Although there are rings of red chilli in the dish, the dish is not spicy.)

Dish 4: Stir-fried chopped long beans, tong cai (a kind of salted vegetable) in small cubes with fried salted peanuts. (This dish is crunchy.)

Our lunch box ~ featuring Dish 8 (left) and Dish 4 (right)

Dish 5: Cook slices of tomatoes, red and green capsicums, pineapples and a gluten-based meat. (A little sweet and sour and feels light.)

Dish 6: Stir-fried tau bor (a kind of bean curd skin product) and black fungus with deep fried thin strips of gingers sprinkled on top. 

Dish 7: Stir-fried chopped lady's fingers with tau jian (fermented beans) and red chilli. (It is not spicy as one can easily pick out the rings of red chilli.)

Dish 8: Cook yam (in cubes), mushroom (in slices) and vegetarian mutton

This lunch box features the vegetarian otak-otak (on the right) (made of tofu, instead of egg and fish)