February 3rd, 2023
Rise and shine – time to wake up!!!
“There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.” -Buddha
Have you ever played the ‘What’s it for?’ game?
- “So, you’re getting good grades in high school. What’s it for?” So I can get into college. “What’s college for?” So I can get a good job. “What’s that for?” To earn money. “What’s that for?” To provide food and lodging. “What’s it for?” To be comfortable. “What’s that for?” To be happy.
- “You’re having a child. What’s it for?” To provide love and comfort and relieve suffering for another being. “What’s that for?” To make their lives happier and more enriched. “What’s that for?” When I make others happy, I’m happy.
- “I hear you’re working a lot of hours and saving your money. What’s it for?” To go on a trip to Hawaii. “What’s for?” To take a little break and spend time with the family. “What’s that for?” To be in the moment in a beautiful place and to make memories. “What’s it for?” To land on happiness again.
The game tends to boil back to being happy. Would you argue that’s what human beings are after in the grand scheme of things? Speaking of games, there’s another one that I call “AS SOON AS…” It’s a funny one, because it’s tied to the fact that many of us spend so much time plotting and planning to be happy ‘as soon as ___’. Fill in the blank. I’ll be happy as soon as it’s the weekend. I’ll be happy when we go on vacation. When I retire, I’ll be so happy. It seems dangerous to subscribe to this mind-set. If happiness is always ‘not now’, then it’s technically never!
This is why happy people hold the golden keys – they aren’t in yesterday or months ago. They simultaneously aren’t putting together an exact blueprint for tonight or this weekend. Why? Because happiness only exists in the moment. Now is unequivocally the only place where happiness can actually be found.
Okay, so what is all this other stuff? These jobs, undertakings, trips, and grocery store visits? Perhaps these are the bumpers we put on our journey in order to set up the highest likelihood of happiness. Human beings are smart, there’s no getting around that. So smart, in fact, that we actually construct the settings all along our journey to ensure a higher likelihood of now-ness when it arrives. Think about it: whether it’s true or not, you are likely to convince yourself that you’re happier with a full belly, while relaxing in an easy chair and surrounded by loved ones than if you are freezing cold on a dirty sidewalk in an unfamiliar place. The mind is a powerful tool. There are a couple words in that description to focus on: ‘convince yourself’. Happiness is fully available in both scenarios, but likely recognized more-so in the former. Behind it all, before we convince ourselves of one state of mind or another, we just are. You may be feeling tired, depressed, high, blue, or ecstatic….but those are just filters put in place by the mind. So what’s behind the filter? Is-ness? Now-ness? Are-ness? Happiness? What’s it for?
A constant reminder that happiness is found in the journey and not the destination. Unless, of course, your destination is happiness in which case the only direct path is the journey and therefore you have already arrived.