The Library of Happiness
have you ever visited yours?
What do we do when we are in search of knowledge or in search of some answers?
We rush to the nearest library, pick up a relevant book and start reading, or ask our common helping friend named “Wikipedia” for an answer.
A library is such an amazing place, where answers to your questions are packed into a tangible form and stacked into wooden shelves. All you need to do is to find that right shelf, pick up a book or a resource and get your answers.
“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life” — Henry Ward Beecher
Just as a regular library can wipe out confusions from your mind by providing the correct answers to your questions, a library of happiness can wipe out sadness, worry, and anger from your mind and make you happy.
What exactly is a “library of happiness”?
It’s an imaginary library which contains some of your best memories, the best moments of your life till date.
Everyone, including you, have such a library already built within your mind. You may not be conscious about it and have never bothered to seek help from this library, but it’s there and contains some of the best moments you have had till now.
For years, I have been updating my library of happiness with wonderful memories and seeking help from it whenever needed. Every time I get depressed, worried or angry, I just step into my library and come out rejuvenated, calm and happy.
It is essential that you keep your library of happiness enriched too and know how to put it to work so that when the time comes, you can easily tap this source of happiness, be happy, hopeful and smile even in the worst situations.
Thinking that this might be a difficult job for you?
Well, certainly not. Seeking help from your library of happiness and enriching it your best memories is really an easy task.
Step 1 — Make memories
The main content of your library of happiness will be memories. If you don’t fill up your library with some beautiful memories then it will be of no use when needed, and the first step to fill up your library with beautiful memories is to actually create them.
Take some time out of your busy schedule to enjoy with your friends and family. Go on a tour. Witness something new. I know it might not be possible for you to take long breaks from your work, but you can surely find some time for yourself every day, even if it’s only an hour.
Visit the nearest amusement park, enjoy those rides. Try out something new, maybe a new food or a new dress or a new place. Do something that makes you happy and, remember not to invite your work and worries to come with you.
Create your own list of things you want to do before you die, and start doing those things one by one, from now onwards. Please don’t keep that list safe until your retirement. It’s time to start striking out things from that list right now.
“I intend to live life, not just exist”— George Takei
The world is full of amazing things and amazing people, it’s time that you discover it, have some fun and add some memories to your library.
Step 2 — Relive them
One of the best ways to beat worries, sadness, and anger that I have witnessed is by recalling some of my old but special memories.
Whenever I am sad, worried or angry, I often enter my library of happiness, pick out some of best memories from my library (which may be related to my current state or maybe not) and relive those moments. As a result, it either rips off the feeling of sadness, worry, and anger completely from my mind or tends to significantly diminish them.
This trick has always worked for me, and have made me feel better and happy in every situation, and I am pretty much sure that this will work for you too.
Your best memories are the most powerful source of positive energy that you can have
So, from now on, whenever you are unhappy about something and need inspiration or positive energy, just make a visit to your personal library, relive some of your best moments and overtake your negative thoughts.
Step 3 — Go back to the clicks
Sometimes your negative thoughts grow so powerful that you are unable to focus on anything else. In such situations, you need help from some external sources of happiness.
Remember the awesome moments that you had captured on your camera?
Well, these are the external sources that I am talking about.
When your mind is not able to focus on your beautiful memories, photos and videos of those moments will help you out in focusing on them and reliving them.
Have a look at the photos and videos of your vacation, or any special moment that you have captured till now. A majority of us have devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Open up those photos and videos on these devices and relive the moment.
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything”— Aaron Siskind
Your mind is bound to focus on something that you are seeing right in front of you.
Take full advantage of this opportunity and wash away the stains of sadness from your mind.
From now onwards, whenever you are in an unhappy state, just have a quick tour around your personal library of happiness, apply these three steps and make yourself feel better.
It’s such a source of happiness that will stay with you forever and can be accessible anytime — start tapping this source of happiness and be happy.
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