You don't have to do a lot to live a good life.
Perhaps the sooner we understand this, the better.
There are, really, just a few basic things we need to take care of: eat reasonably well, sleep properly, see a doctor when we need to, follow the advice we are given, and stay physically active.
That's it.
None of these things is new. There is nothing exotic about them. You don't need a new hack, an expensive supplement or the latest health trend to do any of this.
And yet, perhaps, that is the problem.
We don't always give enough importance to these small, simple things—the things our parents and teachers kept telling us when we were growing up.
But then life kicks in. And with social media and deadlines fighting for our attention, sleep is often the first thing we sacrifice. Then there is the conflict between taste, nutrition and convenience, and home-cooked meals don't always win.
And when a doctor prescribes a medicine, we often look for an alternative, substituting medicines with some exotic formulation, some natural remedy, or some new miracle cure.
“Pills have side effects,” we seek reasons, happily putting our lives in something that hasn’t even been studied.
“Bhai, sugar and rice and maida are all perfectly natural, yet their unbridled consumption is making the world sick.”
Perhaps that is where we go wrong.
We keep looking for something more complicated than what we already know.
The basics aren't difficult to understand. They are difficult to consistently make time for.
Eat reasonably well.
Sleep properly.
Take the treatment you have been prescribed when you need it.
And keep moving.
None of these things is particularly exciting.
But perhaps they don't need to be.
None of this is a miracle.
And, of course, we won't get it right all the time.
There will be late nights. There will be jalebis. There will be pizzas, drinks and parties. There will be weeks when exercise takes a back seat because life gets in the way.
That's how life is.
The point isn't to do everything perfectly. It is to keep coming back to the basics.
Because life isn't built around one big miracle.
It is built around small things we do, day after day.
And perhaps the best thing about doing these things consistently is that they give us a chance to play a long innings.
I particulary like that expression.
An innings is different from a sprint. You don't have to finish as quickly as possible. You have to stay at the crease. You have to adapt. You have to conserve yourself. And, if you're lucky, you get to keep playing for a long time.
Life is much the same.
The objective isn't to have a perfect body, follow a perfect diet or try to eliminate every bit of tension.
Stress will come. Life will happen.
But if you follow the basics, you are giving yourself a chance to actually live.
Maybe the secret to a good life is not as complicated as we make it out to be.
No exotic formula.
Just a few ordinary things.
And the mindset to keep coming back to them.
So that when life gives us a long innings, we don't merely stay at the crease.
We keep playing.