When we are healthy, we seldom think about what it feels like to be sick. But when we are really and truly sick, all we can think about is being healthy again.

No matter how much wealth we manage to accumulate in this world, it is virtually useless without good health. This is tied closely to the knowledge of our own mortality. Deep down, we all know that we only have a handful of decades on Earth and then it’s over.

In light of that, what becomes important then? That is indeed an interesting question. What is important cannot be money, because we can’t take it with us when we die. What is important can’t be our possessions because, once again, they are not going with us. Having money and possessions is very temporary. Those things cease to matter to us when we die.

Some turn to their relationships when they realize this. They feel that family and friends must be the most important thing then. Yet, we will lose contact with family and friends when we pass away too.

Some people die and then come back. They call this the near-death experience. Many of those people talk about what they saw in the state of death. They also talk about how they feel which is almost universally wonderful. There are a few that report going to a very bad place, but the majority feel good. They are free from the pain and suffering of their mortal bodies.

In the near-death experience, many talk about the life review process, where they see their entire lives displayed before them. The good things they do and the bad are right there. In addition they see how their actions and words affected others too. Apparently it can be quite painful to recognize how much we hurt others and caused others pain.

They also get to see the good things they did. I remember one woman who went through the life review process said that the most significant act in her entire life occurred when she was a little girl. She said that the most important action out of her entire life was holding a little flower in her hand and giving it unconditional love. That was it, out of her entire life that was deemed the most significant thing she ever did.

In light of that, we can conclude that what is important is not who we were but how well we treated others in this life. Therefore, when we contemplate our lives and set our goals, maybe it would be a good idea if we thought about others first.

Life is not temporary, but life on Earth is temporary. How are we going to face all those people who are watching what we do, when it is all over? Hopefully, we will have done things that we can be joyous about.

Happiness is inside us. It is in our mind. If we think we are happy, we are. Just by thinking we can make ourselves happy or unhappy. Be positive, be optimistic, see the brighter side of life and you will always be happy. Mind has power over matter. Just by thinking of good things, we can make good things happen to us and make ourselves happy.

See the rose, not the thorns; see light, not the shadow; see the half-full glass, not the half-empty one.

Though one could be infinitely happy by just enjoying the nature and family and all the human-made things, there are still millions of people who are unhappy. In the developed countries there is the very fortunate circumstance of having both God-given and man-made things. Still a lot of people seem to be unhappy.

In the developing countries, where for millions there is a real scarcity of even basic needs, many people seem to be happy. There are some people who are engaged in difficult tasks and in warfare, and even incarcerated in prisons, and are still happy! We have just discussed the factors of happiness. Millions of people have them, still they are unhappy. There are millions of others who don’t have them, yet they are happy!

You would then say that the mere availability and abundance of God-given and human-made things is not enough. There is something else which should be right to be happy. Of course, it is our mind that must have the right attitude towards life for the ability to be happy.

Milton in Paradise Lost says,

‘The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.’

One can give various examples of how mind can influence our body::

• Pavlov’s dog starts salivating at the sound of the bell without any food in sight.
• If we are tense we often get headache, backache, etc.
• Heart attacks are directly linked to worry and tension.
• Right mental attitude helps in curing many bodily maladies.
• By self-talk, motivation, and positive attitude we can become happy and successful.
• Through hypnosis one can have command over another person’s mind and body.
• Through meditation one can have a healthy body and extra sensory abilities.

The mind has extraordinary powers, and as far as happiness is concerned, it has the ultimate power. We should, therefore, have a positive attitude towards life. Instead of concentrating on bad things in life and people, we should concentrate on redeeming features in them.

We should not keep on thinking about past failures and bad experiences but be encouraged by our past success and good experiences. Similarly, we should not be unduly anxious about future as our anxiety is not going to have a positive effect, but we should plan and work hard for the future.

In whatever circumstances you are, you can never have total lack of God-given and man-made happiness. You cannot completely take away nature from somebody; you cannot take away all man-made things from somebody. Even if everything is taken, one’s family and friends are there.

One’s precious body is there. And, even if you chain somebody securely in a dungeon, one’s mind is free. One is free to be happy in one’s mind! Mind is difficult to be mastered by oneself, but it is impossible to be vanquished by anybody, any authority, or whatever conditions or situations.

Abraham Lincoln beautifully expressed it: “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

BE HAPPY!

What could you use a few good problem solving strategies for? New ideas for your business, perhaps. New ways to deal with your children. To come up with different approaches to building things, writing stories, or finding a job. Whatever the purpose, here are a couple powerful problem solving strategies.

Use Your Unconscious Mind

Use your unconscious mind to do your problem solving. Start by outlining a problem in your mind before going to sleep. Then tell your brain to go to work. Albert Einstein had good luck with this technique, sometimes getting his “ah-ha” insights while shaving the next morning.

Instruct your mind to keep working on the problem while you do other things. There is more than we know going on inside our heads. If you first work on a problem, then move on to other things while waiting for and expecting a solution, an answer may come to you when you least expect it.

You can also try working on problems when you are in a drowsy state. This is usually an “Alpha” state, and can result in more creative solutions. This is one of the best problem solving strategies for artistic work.

A Systematic Problem Solving Strategy

Train yourself to solve problems with one or more techniques. Just use a technique for several weeks, and it should become a habit. Here are a few to try:

1. Assumption-challenging. If you are assuming you need a better or higher-paying job, ask “do I really need a better job?” You could get a raise, or somehow make the job you have better. Starting a business on the side might be an option too. Never let your assumptions limit the possible solutions.

2. Solve the parts. To buy a house is a big move that is really a bunch of small steps, which is true of many problems. Address the components of a problem individually, and it may not seem so overwhelming. It is easier to motivate yourself in this way.

3. Ask other people. Whether or not they have good ideas, this helps you be sure you’re not overlooking anything obvious.

4. Write the problem down. Find another way to express the problem and write that down. Keep writing down solutions and ideas that come to mind. Later you can pick the diamonds out of the dirt.

5. Change perspective. What if you were rich, poor, a child, a visitor from another planet? How would you see the problem from this new perspective? Einstein imagined riding on a beam of light, which lead to his theory of relativity, so this technique has been known to work.

There are dozens of good techniques you can use to solve problems. There are also other general methods, like clearing a space to work in, or alternating between intense analysis and intuitive daydreaming. However many ways there are, though, it is using them that counts. If used well, you only need a few good problem solving strategies.