It's Your Way

Happy New Year, Everyone!

A new year brings a fresh start for some with new quests, and a renewed sense of purpose for others in their existing pursuits. It’s that time of the year when resolutions are made with much fervour and focus.

From launching a new business idea for a startup, embracing a workout routine to improve physical health, or exploring a new hobby or masterclass to nurture creative skills, resolutions are not just aspirations; they are stepping stones to achieving your ideas and goals.

Many of you have meticulously planned and charted your resolutions and are already taking steps to realize these aspirations in the coming year. However, for others, the initial excitement of new year resolutions often fades amidst the chaos of balancing work and personal life in today’s fast-paced world. Whether it’s a lack of time or inconsistency, many resolutions end up feeling unattainable, leaving no tangible impact.

As the pressure of these resolutions builds, coupled with social media’s portrayal of others rigorously pursuing their goals, it’s easy to feel self-doubt and anxiety with these influences. The thought of postponing your ambitions for another time grows stronger, and these resolutions quietly fade into the background—a forgotten note in the back of your mind, revisited only at the end of the year.

When you feel the urge to give up on your goals, pause and reflect on the “Why” behind them. Why did they matter to you when you made them with so much passion? Rediscover the genuine purpose and intent behind your resolutions.

Once you reconnect with the heart of why they truly matter, the next step is simple - start again!

As the great Sufi mystic and poet Rumi wisely said: “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”

Begin anew, one step and one goal at a time. Progress may be slow, but it will be steady. With patience and persistence, you can move closer to your dreams - one day at a time.

Walking the Way

-       Remind yourself again, on the true intent and purpose of your resolutions.

-      -Start again, by feeling the success and impact of your accomplishments, even before you are ready. Visualise yourself achieving them with pride and gratitude.

-        Focus on planning and preparing for one day at a time towards your goals.

-    Take small actionable steps, that would make you feel more positive and empowered with every breakthrough.

-     Learn and be inspired by others, but know what works best for you in action and embrace it. Stick to your method, rather than trying someone else’s routine or process without consistency.

-    Celebrate your milestones, daily and weekly to begin with, to remind yourself of the courage and commitment you’ve shown to get here.

-      Keep at it. Repeat. Each day!

Remember, it’s not the goals and resolutions alone; it’s the person behind the persistence and dedication required for the right action, that will stand out and shine in the limelight. And that person is you!

Be realistic. Be consistent. And always, be kind to yourself.

It’s your journey – walk this way at your pace, with your style and you’ll make it happen!

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My Haiku series on " It's Your Way":

 

Try new and old ways

If you feel like giving up

Tread an untried path

 

It’s not easy though

For paths untouched and unseen

Remind yourself why!

 

Why does it matter?

Focus at the heart of it

Walk, the way appears!

 

Fail and then succeed

Celebrate small and big wins

It’s all emotions!

 

Be inspired, yet

Compare yourself to no one

Be free to be you!

 

Through its ups and downs

Learn to love your life journey

Walk on your own way!

 

#walkonyourownway #beyou #selfempowerment #onestepatatime #act #keepatit

"Mindfullyheartful" is a registered trademark, owned by Minal Kering.

Do visit my blog, "Being" at https://mindfullyheartful.blogspot.com/ for my other posts.

 

Surreal September

Surreal September

Aah, September…I love this month (for those who aren’t aware, it is my birthday month)! Even now, come September, I’m as thrilled just as I used to be when I was younger. My enthusiasm hasn’t ebbed a bit! Though, growing older, my excitement is attached with a lot of gratitude :-)

Balance – a word that I intentionally include in my thoughts, feelings and actions with myself and everyone around me.

Energies and vibes are words and themes that I have mindfully included in my life, and I consciously strive to work towards the right ones!

September this year has been a fantastic, different, positive, and surreal month for me and how!

There was a beautiful blend of family, friends, and community throughout the entire month. There was also an idyllic balance of fun, partying, crazy long hours of dancing to good music, soulful conversations, along with traditions, rituals, and spirituality – back-to-back, in parallel – and a seamless amalgamation of all of them!

It started with a lot of birthday celebrations – before, during and post the date - with my life P, my girls, family, fabulous old friends, amazing new friends and my soul-shares, D and J.

We also decided to get Lord Ganesha (Ganpati Bappa) in our home this year, for the very first time! It all started with some conversations about energies, and what Bappa stands for and means to us and what having him in our home would bring in our lives.

Folks who know me, know that I seldom get involved in creative activities. This year, with the help of D, I went to the local markets to choose decorative items and spent long hours to design the backdrops and platforms for the Ganesha idol. I glue-gunned my way into a new world of inspiration.

This was a first for me! However clueless or overwhelmed I may have felt during the process, I thoroughly loved every bit of learning, trying, and doing new creative bits for making Bappa’s home on my own.

During this week of Ganpati Chaturthi celebrations, participating in community activities, in parallel, involved a lot of preparations and rehearsals. I even took part in dance performances during the cultural events as I love dancing. I must admit though, that all my passion for dance slipped right through my toes, after seeing the audience. Even though it went well without us missing any step or sequence, the actual dance performance was hilariously intimidating for me, especially since I was performing in front of an audience after 15 odd years.

P and I also did a Satyanarayan puja at home, on the day of the “Visarjan” (immersion of the idol). Again, a first for me! I have never really initiated anything overly religious on my own and everyone knows that I always lean towards the spiritual aspect of things a little more. I’ve had close friends and family ask me in jest, if I was doing fine or feeling older – they couldn’t understand this “new” me or maybe their own perception about me.

For the puja, I knew I didn’t want to miss any rituals or traditions as I wanted to go by the book. But I knew clearly that our intent was pure, and we were doing it with the right spiritual energies of positivity, peace and gratitude.

The feeling of sitting during the puja is quite indescribable – there was such a strong flow of emotions rushing through my body, mind and heart - overwhelmingly happy, sad, grateful and yet calm and peaceful – all at once. That experience and that moment, so surreal and unreal, yet overpoweringly real and truly my own to cherish!

I even got a chance to take part in a small puja in one of the city’s top Ganesh temples, completely unplanned and a beautiful culmination to the Ganesha festival, for me this year.

As someone very close says, “Jo mann kiya, who karna hi hain!” - but with pure and right intent always!

September, this year, has been all the above and more – fun, exhilaration, positive vibes, learning new things, facing my fears and going through with things new and different, attracting good energies, passion, love, peace and a lot of gratitude.

It has also been about mindfully focusing on myself with patience and kindness, and simply doing what I love to do – whether it is dancing for hours to good music, helping people and community or purely directing my energies towards the right people, positive experiences and joyful memories.

Surreal, happy, newness, crazy, grateful, peaceful, and through all of this – rightly balanced!

A Super September it has been!

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Do visit my blog, "Being" at https://mindfullyheartful.blogspot.com/ for my other posts.

"Mindfullyheartful" is now a registered trademark owned by Minal Kering.

 

The Values of Sewa

As the G20 summit came to an impactful close yesterday in New Delhi, under India’s presidency, what came to the forefront was a human-centric approach for the successful rollout and implementation of the policies in the Joint Declaration.

The key focus areas were economic aid to developing countries, multilateral development and reform of the World Bank and IMF, new rules for cryptocurrency, emphasis on food and energy security, improvement of the global value chain, climate change and action, green and sustainable development, the economic and social impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, gender equality and women empowerment, etc.

One of the core features that helps different governments come together and mutually adopt and effectively implement these global policies is human values, right from an individual choice to national and universal values.

Values such as kindness, inclusion, equality, compassion, integrity, empathy, sustainability, courage, justice, harmony, etc. to are just a few of the many human values that we must implement and put into action in our daily lives.

Another significant aspect that has a greater impact on the happiness and well-being of individuals and the larger global communities is practicing a “Sewa Bhav” or a volunteering mindset.

I’m humbled and grateful that I could be a part of the Values20 communique in collaboration with the World Values Day global network, which was officially launched on the 8th of July, earlier this year, during the V20 Summit in New Delhi. This was organized by the Values 20 group and V20 India team, whose main aim is to create awareness about the deep impact of values-based government policies at a global level.

I had the privilege to interact with an exceptionally inspiring group of individuals from more than 20 countries around the world. Despite our diverse backgrounds, cultures, and value systems, we all worked together as one team to design and bring the V20 communique to life.

I was the lead author for a chapter on the Sewa Mindset or volunteering for the Education Task Force. The chapter is titled, “The Values of Sewa: Selfless Service in Education for Sustainable Citizenship."

This chapter focuses on the profound impression a Sewa mindset can create for a sustainable, inclusive, and global community if embraced from an early age. Factors such as social, economic, and environmental disconnect cause immense issues for our mental health, financial stability, and climate change.

The focus on service-based learning, socio-emotional learning, global citizenship, and volunteering are vital areas that our education systems must put greater emphasis on through their education policies, at local, national, and international levels.

Let's each one of us do our bit for another individual and community by incorporating volunteering and embracing the Sewa Bhav or mindset, in our daily lives.

#G20 #V20 #WorldValuesDay #Sewa #valuesinaction

"Mindfullyheartful" is now a registered trademark owned by Minal Kering.

 

The Journey of Pain

 

Photo Credit: Minal Kering

To all those who suffer, visibly or silently, you are not alone!

Pain, be it physical, mental, or emotional is distressing and incomparable to someone else’s story, only because we all are different. It could be an injury, heartbreak, family trauma, financial issues, social relationships, etc. – and it always hits us hard and shakes the ground under our feet when we first experience it.

Some say that physical pain might, at times, be easier than emotional and mental pain associated with it; and that emotional and mental pain stays with us longer and is more difficult to deal with. Some say that a physical injury will eventually heal over time and we will learn to adjust to the changes in our body, but how will we get over the invisible wounds etched in our hearts and minds.

Simple – in time, this too shall heal, but only if we want it to!

Our threshold of pain and the strength to plough through that pain is unique for each one of us.

Around 12 years ago, I was at my personal lowest in life – mentally and emotionally distraught and disheartened. A broken connection, a relationship at stake, a new country, no job or financial security, no family or friends, and no one that I could reach out to, at that point in time. Everything about life that I had known till then was shattered to bits and I was thousands of miles away from the place that was home. My little baby girl and I were at a crossroads in life, with no hope in sight.

At that time, I didn’t know how to go on and more importantly, in which direction to move forward. Everything was stagnant and yet life was passing by, day after day.

I only knew one thing then - I had to get through this and that I would!

12 years later, I can happily say that my family is together and growing stronger every day.

My experience with pain recently was a whole different experience altogether – one that required an entirely new mindset and an enormous amount of physical strength to overcome it.

A few months ago, I woke up with a stinging pain in my left shoulder, and one day, it was so severe that I couldn’t move my left hand at all. I am a left-handed person, so the thought of any immobility in my working hand was a huge trigger for fear of how I would be able to continue and live life the same way again. Panic and anxiety set in very quickly, and the continuous physical pain caused a lot of emotional stress in the coming days.

A cervical scan showed misalignment in the neck discs. On the first day of physiotherapy treatment, the team realized that my left shoulder bone had shifted and moved away from the muscles and that was the reason for the excruciating pain in the shoulder.

I experienced this pain on a weekend and there wasn’t any treatment possible on those days. Without realizing it, the physical pain had transcended to mental anxiety and emotional distress within a few hours.

The next 1-2 months were like a whirlwind of physiotherapy, exercises, tears, and a lot of heaves and sighs.

The reason for this post is to try and highlight these very different facets of pain – one at a physical level which creates mental and emotional upheavals, and the other deeply rooted at an emotional level. I simply want to say, that no matter what, it is absolutely possible to work through and rise above the pain at all levels - if we want to, we can.

It may take you a lot more time through your challenges as compared to someone else. However, if you put your mind to it, focus on small goals, be aware of your mental and emotional being during the painful experience, and take it one day and one step at a time, you will definitely make it through.

Reflecting back, I know that despite all the pain, mental hurdles, and emotional distress, there are a few specific things that helped me overcome these different journeys of pain.

1. Know your goals, small and big: I only had one goal – to get my dominant working hand and shoulder back in shape. That was my only big goal. No matter how difficult or impossible it seemed for the first week, I kept going. I made smaller goals on a daily basis for myself, of what I wanted to achieve on that day, during that session. I exercised my hand and shoulder in any free time I had in the day. I worked those muscles, slowly but surely, towards my goal. 12 years ago, my only big goal was to start rebuilding my life, for my baby girl and myself.

2. Small is big: I took it one step, one lift, one session, and one day at a time. I looked out for small victories which eventually grew bigger each day. I2 years ago, I simply worked on having happy moments with my baby girl each day.

3. Know your limits: I was already pushing myself more than I was expected to by the physiotherapist, but at the same time, I was always aware of how much to extend my limits, without causing any further injury.

4. Think positive, affirm it, and act it: The physical pain along with the mental and emotional stress was a huge challenge, that stood in front of me every single day. I had to believe in myself, push aside those negative thoughts that could put me down and maintain a positive attitude throughout this journey. I had to tell myself that I could and I would overcome this challenge, and in time, this too would pass. I thought and spoke positive affirmations to myself – simple yet realistic statements, that meant something meaningful to me.

More importantly, I had to act on those positive thoughts by consistently and constructively exercising and doing what needed to be done.  

5. Be your own cheerleader: For the first time ever, I was kind enough to applaud myself on every small achievement. I believe that it was the biggest thing that motivated me and pushed me to keep a positive attitude.

6. Dig deep: Sometimes, pain is physical and at times it is within us, not to be seen – and it affects us mentally or emotionally. If you dig deep, you will find your core strength, in all that pain. Your character and positive action to rise above it all will take you closer to a better future. Use that inner strength to move forward, and no one and nothing would be able to stop you from achieving your goals and dreams.

7. Embrace a newer you: Disability, injury, pain, heartbreak, or any tragedy do not define who you are; it is your ability to work through that pain or a particular situation that does! Walk with determination, courage, grit, and perseverance, along with kindness and love to take you through that challenge and pain, all the way to the finish line. At the end of it, accept and embrace, a newer you – someone who has learned so much on this journey of pain and healing.

8. Therapy: Self-therapy for mental and emotional healing is as important as physiotherapy and proper treatment is for overcoming physical pain.

Therapy can be as simple as going for a walk, listening to music, writing down your thoughts, or doing something that you like to do during an emotional turmoil. Talking to someone you trust about what you’re going through always helps. You may not find a solution but having a sounding board may help simplify and calm your own thoughts and feelings.

9. Humility and Gratitude: Being humble and not taking anything (our bodies and our lives) or anyone (our people and our support all around) for granted is very imperative to our overall wellbeing. Seeing the medical team’s expressions and even brighter smiles, every time I said thank you, especially when they never expected it, was a hugely humbling feeling for me.

I truly believe in the power of saying “Thank you”. No matter how my day has been, being grateful for something and someone and hearing those 2 words always helps change my mood and brightens everything around a little more.

During my hospital visits and treatment sessions, seeing the smiles and hearing the encouraging words of the medical team helped make the difficult sessions a little lighter. I do believe that a simple thank you can change someone else’s day as much as your own!

My shoulder and hand are healing well and the bone is now nearly 80% through the healing process. My heart and mind are always healing, getting better, and growing with love, positivity and gratitude.

 

Every individual’s journey of pain and their fight back through that pain is special to them as well as for their loved ones. It is imperative that we accept our reality, move forward and have faith that this too shall pass.

As Rumi said, “Don’t get lost in your pain, know that one day your pain will become your cure.”

Our visible and invisible scars will always remain – how we choose to look at them and the stories behind those scars will be our triumph in life.

No matter what it may be, keep on going. Change your pain into your power!

 

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Haiku – The Journey of Pain

 

No one asks for pain

It sure can be life changing

All may seem hopeless

 

Be it physical

Mental or emotional

Keep moving forward

 

Dig deep inside you

Find your strength and fire to fight

Make pain your power!

 

#pain #injury #courage #perseverance #kindness #love #keepgoing #life #goals

Do visit my blog, "Being" at https://mindfullyheartful.blogspot.com/

for my other posts.

"Mindfullyheartful" is now a registered trademark owned by Minal Kering.

Still...in Motion

 

Whenever life gets you down 

You feel lost, stuck and confused

All may seem stagnant.

 

Aware that you’re down 

Growing, learning and loving

That’s when you rise up!

 

At times, let’s choose to 

Step back, reflect on what’s been

Smile for what’s ahead!

 

Your mind, heart and soul 

Know it’s ok to be still

Yet...always moving!

 #beingstill #riseup #keepmoving #being

Purpose - Finding, embracing and acting on your life’s purpose!

What is my life's purpose? What am I doing here? How do I find my purpose?

A lot of you may have questioned yourselves at times, about your reason to be here, the same way that I have as well. At times, you may get a clear, strong answer and at times you don’t know where to begin or how to continue on this journey called life.

The dictionary meaning of purpose is “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.”

We all need meaning in our lives to be, to act and live through the many different experiences during this life.

Around 2 decades ago, armed with a double post-graduation, I was on top of the world! I had completed my education, found a job and most importantly, I knew my purpose in life. In my heart and head, it was quite simple - “I wanted to help!” I wanted to do something for the community and make that my livelihood and be able to sustain it on a long-term basis”.

That’s where the problem began.

Firstly, my job was in the IT services sector and there wasn’t any scope in my specific work area to be able to work directly on something that would help the community, in the way that I had planned. As my corporate career began to take shape, it slowly moved me away from my dreams. I did try to work with many non-profit organizations but somehow could not sustain that in a way that I wanted to – which was to connect with community members at the grassroot level and help in any way that I could.

I got married, travelled cities and countries, had kids and finally settled back in India with my family. I left my corporate career and worked with a non-profit organization as a Mentor to young adults, which certainly helped me align a little bit closer with my purpose and create a direct connection with the community. Yet, something felt incomplete – a piece was missing!

The cliché of “Life just happens” was unfolding for me. Hence, when my second child was a year old, I decided to act – to try and once again do something to find that missing piece of the puzzle. I studied Psychology, trained to be a therapist and switched careers from IT to Mental Health, Wellbeing and Self-development, 18 years after I earned my first post graduate degree.

Now, you may ask, “What’s the purpose of this story?” It is simply to give you an insight in understanding, embracing and eventually acting on your purpose.

Besides, knowing your purpose, it is equally important to find a way to work towards it, such that you can continue doing it for as long as you want to, and help fulfil your dreams and passions in life.

I must acknowledge here that I do not regret a single phase of my life. I understand that every experience that I have gained has only helped me become the person I am today. These experiences have helped me shape my dreams and goals. I do wish however, that I had acted on my true purpose earlier on in life and made a deeper impact.

The reason the aspect of action is important is to avoid the cliché of “Life passing you by” or “Where did the 20 years go by?” happening to you. You must be aware of this, otherwise, your true purpose in life will only be real in words, in your hearts and souls forever!

I’ve listed down 7 simply and practical ways in which you can truly find, embrace and follow your purpose in life:

1.     1. Passion

It is important to know what you want to do in your life. Many of us simply let life happen to us as bystanders. Let’s take a pause, find what you really want to do and make this journey of life the way you want it to. It could be about art, music, sciences, being an astronaut, working with children or simply making the most delicious cupcakes. You need to reflect on what makes your mind and heart work together and make you smile.

2.    Understanding

Along with finding your passion or what you want to do in life, you need to understand deeply what it entails. Ask yourself questions like “Do I really want to do this long term?” or “How can I work for this such that I am financially stable as well?” and even “Who can help with work for this and how can I start?”

3.    Resolve

The way expectations work around you at times may find you in a dilemma, especially when it comes to financial stability, lack of viable opportunities, etc. Dig deep, make a resolve to plan such that you would be able to sustain your passion in a way that you can make a good successful living out of it in the long run.

4.    Persistence

At times, you may or may not be able to work full time towards your dreams due to various reasons. At such times, show grit and be persistent about your long-term passion and find ways to continue working towards it in smaller ways. Keep reminding yourself in thoughts as well as in action that you would be able to one day work solely for your passion, and that day is coming soon.

5.    Open-mindedness

Take a pause! Look back on all that you have achieved and look forward to your future goals. Remember to remember your true purpose every now and then. Ask yourself “Are you happy with what you have done so far for it?”. Be open-minded and even critical at times about your successes and failures and realign your next steps towards the path that would take you to fulfilling your purpose. Ask yourself again “Do I want to continue on this journey or find another path?”

Listen to what your heart truly has to say!

6.    Satisfaction and Fulfillment

Whatever you choose to do has to be fueled with passion to begin with. But in life, you may have other aspects connected with your life – family, finances, self-aspirations, etc. These may change in priority at different phases in life, but it is imperative that to be truly successful and happy in life, you must have that sense of satisfaction in whatever you do. Without it, it tends to get difficult to continue on a long-term basis.

The concept of Ikigai, combining passion, profession, vocation and mission works very well in understanding this aspect.

7.    Everyone

No matter what you do, you must try and find a way to use our passion and purpose in a way that you can contribute to someone else. The sense of satisfaction that you get when you’re involved in giving back to your community is simply supreme. Along with giving donations to charities and NGO’s, try and give your personal time and effort to working for the community in some way and bask in the complete sense of gratification and fulfillment that you would feel from such life experiences.

It's always about balance. In this case, you must consciously balance between doing something for a living and truly living a life.

In the words of Mark Twain, “The two most important days in life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

I’d like to complement that quote by encouraging you to find that equally momentous day when you act upon that “why” as well.

Let’s start today – find your purpose, embrace it and work towards making it happen!

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My Haiku on "Purpose":

Love what you do, and

Give back to others, truly

Mindfully heartful^TM !

#purpose #act

"Mindfullyheartful" is now a registered trademark owned by Minal Kering.                   Do visit my blog, "Being" at https://mindfullyheartful.blogspot.com/ for my other posts.

Connecting Communities Through Values - One World One Family

 

                                                         Image Credit: pixy.org

The theme for this year’s World Values Day is Values for Community.

Our values guide us to understand the good from the not-so-good, and the right from the not-so-right. They are the principles that we use to define and live our lives on. These chosen values help us make responsible decisions in our lives and act in alignment with these values.

At times, we may be in a situation that forces us to rethink our values or act in a way that may be contrary to our values. In those moments, we are faced with an internal dissonance or discord with ourselves on how we must act. To avoid such dissonance and help our mental and emotional wellbeing, we should think and act as per the values we choose to live by.

What is a community? Community to me is all about connections. It is the connections that we make with others on a mental, emotional, physical, social, intellectual and spiritual level. These connections usually navigate the boundaries of age, gender, caste, race, economy, interests, etc. and still manage to bring people and keep them together.

The world as we know it today is a haven of diversity, everywhere we look. Our food, clothes, lifestyles, cultures, language, religion, etc.; all of these are unique to a community or group of people. With the advent of social media, our world is a much smaller place and we can reach out to people and communities across the globe, sitting in our own homes. We can explore, learn and enhance our knowledge and even change our lives for the better from those different from us.

Yet, at the same time, it is this diversity that has given rise to many conflicts amongst people. Conflicts based on religious and political ideologies, lifestyles, and identities are easy paraphernalia used to create distractions and conflicts amongst communities.

In times like these, where there is negativity all around us, our values give us hope and positivity to do the right thing. Our values may also be different from those of our friends and family. How do we align our values to those of people around us, especially if our own values may change and evolve in our lifetime due to different circumstances? We human beings live together and connect socially with different individuals as a choice. Having family, friends and others around us to turn to when we’re in a crisis helps us get back on our feet faster, and helps our self-esteem and attitude in a positive manner. Such connections enhance our social wellbeing enormously and help make us feel a part of a larger community and enhance our quality of life and relationships.

The question to ask here would be, if values vary between any two individuals, how can we understand, imbibe and work together for the values for an entire community? How do we cohesively uplift and uphold the values for a community and at the same time align with the values we’ve chosen or ourselves individually for a deeper and positive impact on each one of us?

Whether it is the COVID pandemic and the quest for vaccinations, the Sudan drought and conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war, the environmental disasters due to climate change and many more events across the world – all of them have shown us that the world needs communities to come together for the greater good. It has also shown us that values-driven projects are almost always successful in their objectives to help communities in dire need and emerge stronger.

Every time a community goes through a crisis – be it environmental, geo-political, or even religious, we have seen that taking action on values to support a community be able to get through those tragedies and challenges is the best way forward. It is important that we take not only action on our chosen values as an individual but also act on values to empower those around us in various communities.

Values such as compassion, empathy, courage, collaboration, sustainability, inclusivity, equality and gratitude are but a few from the vast laundry list of human values that have invigorated individuals to come together and work towards the transformation and betterment of their communities.

We can take great insight from heartful projects in the UK and Australia that help young children from daycares and kindergartens connect with the elderly in care facilities regularly. These programs have proven that such conversations and interactions not only help boost the self-esteem of the elders but also help promote friendships and social skills in the children. Similarly, group play activities in Japan, intergenerational music orchestras in New Jersey and celebrating cultural and religious festivals together with community elders in India help get the young and old together. These interactions help us learn and share knowledge, better our relationship skills, practice empathy and create happier individuals and community spaces around us.

Whether it is working for the equal rights of women in workplaces or of the LGBTQ community, helping all individuals with opportunities to realize and fulfill their dreams and reach their full potential in life is significant if we want to create a holistic and all-inclusive community.

The basic Indian philosophy of Sewa talks about service to humankind as divine service (“Nar Sewa Narayan Sewa”). The various Sewa organizations and Sewa cafes in India, US, Middle East, Australia and many more countries around the world work on this very principle of a selfless act, to help the less privileged human beings and animals and protect those in need.

Happy social relationships are very crucial for individual wellbeing and a healthy community overall. Social networks such as family and friends, neighbours and workplace colleagues, and other local engagements for the community are all related to our individual happiness. Living and working in and for such healthy communities enhances our individual wellbeing and also gives us a sense of purpose in life.

Hence, it is essential that along with being mindful of our individual wellbeing, we must also focus on the overall wellbeing of communities around us. The best way to achieve this is by acting on our values for ourselves and our communities.

“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” is a Sanskrit phrase found in Hindu texts such as the Maha Upanishad, which means "The World Is One Family". This phrase talks of an all-inclusive attitude and focuses on the concept of unity in diversity in communities.

This World Values Day, let’s all strive to come together and take positive action on our values for ourselves as well as our communities – for a joyful world!

This blog post was created as a part of the World Values Day global campaign and is also available to read at https://valuesalliance.net/connecting-communities-through-values-one-world-one-family/.

#WorldValuesDay2022