WHOLE-FAMILY HAPPINESS

Lessons and Blessings from an Abnormal Year

by Berta Prevosti

Happiness. How is it possible to conceive happiness and the return to “normalcy” while looking ahead to our children’s return to school this fall? In a year where we have been deprived of our social connections and the joy of a healthy 2020/21 school year, how can we look at our future relationships with optimism, as well as turning some into lifetime friendships?

Let’s begin with some reflection on this past year and what we have learned, so we can more easily move into the future with greater enthusiasm. Ask and one shall receive! But what have we all been asking for? For happiness? For a return to a more normal existence? A return to a more joyful existence? The question matters less than the approach we must take to find the answer. This opportunity has come to us all—albeit not an easy one to swallow, but it is here. It is said that “God” only gives us what we can handle, presumably to make us stronger.

We have all had our share of opportunities for growth this year. Perhaps our collective prayers have been answered. So now what? Let us all look at this upcoming year with the insight that this past year has blessed us with.

Get to know family.

This is something many of us have received—whether or not it was something we were asking for. As we’ve had older children move back into our homes, younger children learning remotely and parents working from home, everyone has had a lot more time to get to know each other. We should look at this as a blessing to get to know and enjoy our family.

Perhaps we truly “saw” our children for the first time in many years and realized we did not know who they were. Good, bad or indifferent, we were forced to coexist to-

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gether in a massively unexpected way. This is the first blessing and tip for the up and coming year. Let us not forget who our kids are—see them, hear them and know them.

Take more time to chill out.

Relax a little. What a concept! We must have all been asking/praying for this in one way or another. Don’t forget the opportunity this year has presented. The past decade has shown us a generation of teenage students that have been so stressed with life that they have opted out. Suicide was up on levels we have never seen before because of the all-consuming forces of stress. But where did they learn this from? Their parents, family, TV, society? We have an opportunity now to reclaim that downtime and perhaps even chill out.

Tip number two is to chill out. When we enjoy the day-to-day joys of life, we begin to enable our loved ones to do the same.

Less is more.

Connections that we made as children are so often taken for granted. The happiest among us have often said that we don’t grow up, we just grow old. Children know this, and relax and enjoy more of the flow of life than many of us are still capable of doing. Rather than allowing social expectations to crush their dreams of fame and fortune, we can try to allow our wisdom to act as their new road map.

Many of us have had to downgrade due to loss of work, or opportunity. Contradictory as it may seem, there has been a collective sense of relief that has come with this downgrade. Less “stuff” clogging our mind means more space to fill with the things that matter.

We have all been working around the clock to keep up with the “Kardashians”, or whatever society deems as success, but this year has forced people to minimize. At first, they were devastated at this loss, only to realize that they have gained so much more. Less to pay, more to enjoy.

Let us not forget the blessings that this year has forced upon us. Let us try and teach our children these difficult lessons/ blessings. Embrace laughter. Embrace joy, family and life itself, because we have all learned that it is fleeting for some. Let us live a more thoughtful life, a more joyful life and happier existence to teach our children that this is more. This is everything.

Berta Prevosti offers online yoga and meditation through her new studio platform, RajaYogini.com, which offers online classes in meditation, yoga, yoga teacher training programs, certifications, workshops, retreats and metaphysical studies for as low as $9.99 a month. Connect at 203-902-5090 and RajaYogini.com.