April 24 2024

Notes by Aarya Mishra

Today’s class was taught by Vivekji. Instead of sharing a story, he shared a metaphor to help us understand how to be happy. Then he shared other strategies to help us.

Metaphor

If you think about a cherry, there is a sweet, juicy part, but inside that is the pit, which is bitter and hard. Then there is the stem, which connects the fruit to the tree. If you think about your day, what part was the juicy part – the happy, good part of your day? What part was the pitt – the part you want to forget about? What is the stem, what you learned from it? Start to think about this everyday, the good part, the bad part, and the learning part. This will help you grow and be happier everyday.

Other tips for being happy

• Constantly learn. When we are bored, it is because we have forgotten that everything is a learning experience. If you want to be happier, you have to try and see everything as an opportunity to learn.
• Have fun! When you have fun, you let go of the heaviness. 
• Focus. When you are focusing, you have less thoughts rushing in your head. Then you are able to focus on happiness. So the less thoughts, the happier you are. 
• Facilitate. This means that you facilitate, or create, happiness in others. When you help others feel happy, you will most definitely feel happier.

Dynamic

Go to a family member and ask them for a technique to be happy. Try to implement this in your life.

RAW

Go for a walk with your family. Wear some type of gloves, bring a plastic bag, and pick up trash.

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Notes By Om Shreejay

Vivekji talked about cherries, his favorite food. Cherries have a juicy part, a pit, and a stem where they came from. The juicy part is what we keep, the pit is what we let go of, and the stem is what we learned. Similarly, we reflected on what part of our day we wanted to keep, forget, and what we learned.

Vivekji shared that the reason we were born was to learn how to be happier. He asked us if we were happier this year. A good way to measure your happiness is to think about the cherry metaphor – the juice, pit, and stem.

Vivekji shared three ways to be happier (from easier/short term to harder/long term) –

1. Have fun

When you have fun, you let go of the heaviness in your mind and body. Vivekji shared some dad jokes that were super funny and had everyone laughing and happy. 

These were my favorites –

– Why did the composer stay in bed? To finish writing their sheet music!

– Did you hear about the sandwich that couldn’t stop telling jokes? It was on a roll!

– What’s a calendar’s favorite treat? Dates

2. Focus

Vivekji shared a quote – When he’s happy, he looks in sync (by Pearl Jam). Vivekji showed us a picture and asked us to focus on the eyes looking at us. Then Vivekji asked us to close our eyes and to imagine the same eyes. When we focus, we have less thoughts. The less thoughts we have, the more we can feel Happiness.

3. Facilitate

When you help others try to be happy, you become happier. Vivekji asked us to take 2 minutes to ask our family members for their advice on how to be happier.

RAW:

Go on a walk with your family and collect litter, then send an image to First Friend Dwija.