I totally DIS-agree with the Aldous Huxley quote, “Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by- product of other activities.” I say, “Why leave happiness to chance?”
I totally agree with Abraham Lincoln’s quote, “A man is about as happy as he makes his mind up to be.” Clearly happiness is a choice, Are you ready to choose happiness?
Happiness is ALL internal. Yes, outside factors have an influence and should be pursued if you wish to maximize favorable conditions to your happiness within. But YOU attach the MEANING everything has; NOTHING HAS ANY MEANING except the meaning that you give it. You are in control; you
are the master of your happiness. You decide what everything means. If you don’t like what you’ve decided or created, maybe it’s time to change the meaning to support more happiness within! It all starts with your aim, goal or intention.
If you are passionate about something and it is lost or taken away – say a basketball player whose knee is permanently damaged – what happens to the happiness? My guess is that in this example, it would very quickly evaporate. The way I measure my own happiness within, is to use this test: If I lost everything I have, would I still be happy? It is obviously difficult to know for sure, but I believe I would be happy no matter what. When one door closes a better door opens. I have pretty much been at the bottom and that is when I really learned what happiness within was.
With happiness within you learn to a just to the unknown, to go with the flow. To appreciate what you already have. You count your blessings and give thanks for them.
This morning as I was babysitting my granddaughter, I looked at her and counted the blessings. This wonderful country of ours does have a lot of problems to solve, but at the same time we have to keep in mind how blessed we are. I am very grateful for the possibilities this child has living in this country. That at the age of 4 months she has clean clothes, a crib to sleep in, milk to drink and toys to play with as she grows. She will be able to have a childhood.
Now, is it necessary for her to have a passion or some goal/target to achieve in order to be happy when she grows into adulthood? I don’t think so. We’ve probably all observed – sometimes those who have nothing seem happiest. If we have something specific to live for, we *can* be happier than we would be without it – but is this real happiness? Not necessarily. A passion or zest for life can enhance happiness, but it won’t be the reason for happiness. I would go so far as to say that a passion could actually be a hindrance to happiness if it gets close to being an obsession, or if we are doing it to receive praise for being selfless, or for any other ego driven reason. We need to be flexible and not be attached to anything, whether it is outcomes, people, or things.
Eckhart Tolle tells of the guru who was going to reveal his secret for happiness. It goes something like this: Everyone hushed as he was going to explain this elusive secret. All he said was, “I don’t care what happens.” That was his secret. Not being attached to anything, or invested in any outcome, you will find happiness within. This doesn’t mean you have to give up on life and love – on the contrary, it frees you to live and love more. When we achieve this freedom of “not caring” we become free of judgment, resentment, guilt, fear and all the negative garbage that stops us from becoming our true, loving selves.
In the spirit of not caring, I’m perfectly happy for you to disagree on any, or all, of this… Please leave your comments, so we can discuss them.
May you be blessed with happiness,
Debbie Dee
