Life After 60: 10 mantras for “Happier” Living

The new year brings new hope and A NEW COLUMN IN OUR ONLINE MAGAZINE – Life After 60: 10 mantras for “Happier” Living. Life and wellness coach BINA MIRCHANDANI would be sharing her thoughts on living a life loaded with optimism, delight and radiance. In her first article, Mirchandani shares with us a few secrets to help you live your life after 60 with the purpose of self-love and happiness.

Mirchandani is Chief Faculty at Rtambhara Wellness Pvt ltd, which looks at Wellness in a holistic way. The company believes in self-discovery and personal transformation to drive personal effectiveness. She also serves on the board of “The School of Ancient Wisdom” in Bangalore. 

Is there life after 60? Or can we dare say, it is just starting?

Yes, it is this phase in your life, that gives you the opportunity to do some inner engineering and make transformational changes to yourself to achieve a better outcome that really matters, and makes yourself happier!

You are at that stage in your life, where you have accomplished what you set out to do, your own life experiences have given you a huge amount of self-confidence, and you now feel free to explore uncharted waters, for which you never found the time. In terms of your responsibilities, your families are settled by now, children, educated and empowered to lead their own lives. May we say, a job that you have done to the best of your abilities.

So, wouldn’t you say that this is the best phase of your life? It’s all about you, going ahead!

How can I make myself ‘Happier’?

So here’s the first mantra.

Be authentic! Be your true self!

Let’s look at a quote from Gandhiji:

There couldn’t be anything truer than these three golden rules!

Looking back at my own life and the experiences that have taught me many lessons, I realise that we spent so much futile energy in putting on a show for others, creating a self-image that conformed with norms that society imposed on us. Be Rich, Be good looking, Be Intelligent, Be successful in all your material endeavours! A successful life was measured by what our peers and others were doing and achieving, which set the bar for our own achievements! Did we ask ourselves the question, whether the need for all this material wealth and comfort was an end in itself or was it finally meant to bring us Happiness?

A little introspection and contemplation would have made us realise that it was all meaningless, and made little or no contribution to what we ultimately really wanted……..happiness!

When I look back, a major factor for my happiness was being authentic and true to myself at all times! This life mantra worked wonders for my happiness and overall wellbeing!

Let’s give some thought to the following statements.

1) Are we all endowed with the same faculties? Obviously not.

2)Did we need to push ourselves against our natural inclinations and our innate faculties and create dissonance within ourselves just because it was lucrative in terms of money? That being the only measure of what we call success in ‘our society’?

3)Did we think that material success would bring us happiness? In that case, having achieved it, why is there still some discontent?

We need to realise that permanent happiness does not come from making a bundle of money and buying expensive cars and jewellery, it comes from what we do in this life that is closest to our hearts.

There is a beautiful saying from our ancient scriptures in Sanskrit, “Trikarnasuddhi”. The meaning of this profound statement is that we need to be harmonious in all our thoughts, speech and actions along the natural order of the universe, which is always the path of ‘goodness and purity’. This life principle is the essence of ‘True Happiness!’ Any conflict between any of these three expressions only results in stress and negative hormones being released into our bodies, and finally ends in illness and disease!

J Krishnamurti, a world teacher and philosopher says it very beautifully! We need to relate to one another as truthfully and authentically as possible, only then will we have, real relationships!

Here is his quote:

Two wholly imposed projections between two people are not what makes for meaningful and fulfilling relationships!

So on a final note, remember that we don’t have to impress anybody at this stage in our lives, we only have to be happy and spread happiness around us, so don’t be afraid in any situation to be who you truly are, express your true feelings and enjoy the freedom of not wearing a self-created mask!

I’d like to close with Louis Armstrong’s song that we all know, titled “What a wonderful world!’ It is truly a beautiful world for us to revel in! Make of it, what you will!

Live life fully and completely through ‘Being Authentic’ and ‘Being True to yourself’!