3 Life Lessons I Learned Living In India

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India is known as the most spiritual place worldwide and is so for a reason. Spirituality is not a practice, it is the way of life in India. Burning incense, prayer, meditation, yoga, offering free food in temples on the streets, vegetarian food, lifestyle infused by ancient wisdom, greeting another with “namaste” as a sign of recognizing the Divine essence in them, astrology, chanting mantras, creating a sacred space in home – these are all daily activities and rituals which are helping Indian people to stay grounded and cultivate the inner peace.

Here are three big life lessons I learned living in India for two and half years:

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1) Happiness is found within us.

Even while life is difficult in India, compared to other Western countries, due to poverty, you can see Indian people stay calm, happy and peaceful with a smile on their face and deep gratitude for what they have, no matter how small it may seem. While in a country I’m coming from, people are all the time complaining how life is tough, and how stressed and frustrated they are, although they have a much better life standard than most of the people in India.

2) Be grateful for what you have.

“Simple everyday things” like drinking clean water or having an electricity in home, even a meal on the table are the things that are unavailable to many people in India due to poverty. After living in India for two years, today I feel grateful from the bottom of my heart to have a home, running clean water, air-conditioner in the summer, a refrigerator to cool water (some people in India cannot afford to buy even ice to chill the water during very hot summers, when temperatures are reaching up to 48 C), electricity all day without power-cut. Those all are the things I was taking for granted for a long time in my life, unaware how blessed I was.

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Whatever you are going through in your life right now, know that in some part of the world someone else is going through something much worse. Be grateful for all the blessings you have been given.

3) Instead of complaining, laugh on it – and do what you can do to fix it.

People in India do not complain how life is tough. They live each day in a state of gratitude for having a family who cares for them, and they take a lot of pride in their work (a doctor, CEO, security guard or a cleaning lady will do their job with the same devotion and pride).

They are happy for the little things in life and at the same time, they are trying everything in their power and working very hard, to make it as much better as possible. Indians are known for their sense of humor and they laugh a lot. Whatever the situation is, they will find something funny in it – to laugh about and something to be grateful about.

Peace, happiness and gratitude are the best state of mind and heart.