8 feel good things that are free of cost

With a deluge of ipods, ipads, smartphones, information centers, the idiot box, social networking sites and the race to make money that’ll last a lifetime, we forget that the world’s best things are absolutely free. We don’t need to earn a zillion bucks and be able to afford every distracting thing technology made to keep ourselves happy! Simple things around us can be put to use to meet our end - be it physical or mental well-being! i realized that i don’t use even some of the basic ones to make myself, and others around me, happy!

Here’s my list -

1. Smile: Sounds stupid. But i realised that i used to see the same people come to my gym. i recognized their faces but they never smiled and i too didn’t attempt it. That set me thinking. i am sure it’s ok to smile at people who you see more often than strangers on the street. One, a smile definitely makes one feel good. (Try it! Remember to smile often and you will see your mood drastically improve every time you do! And what more - a happy mind keeps you looking young!!) Two, who knows i might have struck conversations and made friends, all beginning with a smile!

2. Talk to people: The next thing i noticed is that i did smile at a few familiar faces but stopped at that. i thought man, and woman, is a social animal. i guess there should be no harm in exchanging a couple of sentences. Think of people you’ve been bumping into at your office escalators and train stations for months but never had a word. Go ahead and talk to them. It’s free!

3. Get out in the morning: One of the best mood boosting activities is to get out for a walk in the morning before the traffic builds up. Could be just outside your house or a park nearby. i always thought it impossible to step out of my street without having to combat a million vehicles honking away to glory! But when i stepped out, for various reasons, anytime before 7am - i was surprised at how tame and friendly outdoors appeared! And it definitely made me feel happy and nice about getting my share of fresh air. i also realised that it is for no reason that our ancestors insisted we should rise early. Because somehow being up early generally lifts the mood and makes you active.

4. Sing or move to music: Again, sounds stupid! But play your favourite song and move your body. If someone like me with 2 left feet suggests this, i am sure it’ll make dancers feel that much better. It doesn’t matter how you look because no one’s watching you in your room (or say, the kitchen while cooking). Imagine that you are Michael Jackson or Govinda. It’ll only make a difference to your happiness and feel good levels! Also, singing along the crazy lyrics or humming along the soulful ones also help! So what if we aren’t exactly Sonu Nigam! In our own world, we are!

5. Take the stairs: Well, this little freebie is to keep us fit. Take the stairs wherever possible. i had my heart rate up about 4 times just changing trains in Delhi Metro by doing this! i know this is nothing like a full fledged workout and a lot of times we are in a hurry or too lazy to do it. And many times our mind argues against it by convincing us that it wouldn’t make too much of a difference. i am sure it does make a difference to our body than not taking stairs at all!

6. Read a book: Maybe you already do. On a regular basis. If you don’t have the time to, make deliberate effort to set out a slot to read an engaging book, depending on your interests. i am sure you spent money on a lot of books hoping to read them someday! There’s nothing like losing oneself in the world of characters to forget a long days woes.

7. Talk to your neighbour: Log out of Facebook and get real. Walk up to your neighbour’s and make a sincere effort at getting to know them (if you don’t already, that it). You can pick a different one in your building every week, you may already know them but it must have been ages since you went down to the old aunty and said Hi. To you it might be just a visit, but to someone else it might be someone’s precious time!

8. Call a friend: Once again get off the internet and speak to a real person. You might have a zillion friends online but when was the last time you actually made an attempt to speak to one of them in real time? This isn’t exactly free because of call charges but i am sure it can be easily accommodated by cutting down several useless messages we send each day. Even better is to try and find an old friend on one of your networking sites and  get in touch. It’s surprising how we start off with school friends from where we left off no holds barred! i have found myself smiling for days after finding school friends and talking to them thinking of childhood memories and days spent with them.

i have tried out a few of these and intend to try out a few others. You may go ahead with some and see if it makes a difference to your worldview! Please share here if it did!