Happiness seems to be the most important thing in life. When someone makes a wish they may wish for money or a lottery win, a new job or the affections of a particular person; but what they are actually after is the secret ingredient to happiness. Unfortunately today’s society seems to externally locate the solution in dis satisfaction…often in material possessions or looks, rather than inside themselves. This is seen in the…’I will be happy when I lose a stone’ or ‘if I had a better job then life would be different’.
However whatever changes on the outside we are still the same inside. We need to find the secret of happiness within ourselves rather than look for fleeting glimpses in the outside world. I know from my experience that the more I practice yoga..the more content I feel. It’s when I wake feeling excited & ready for the new day that i am reminded of the internal happiness I feel. That it’s less because I am lucky enough to practice a job i love & more because I now enjoy each experience for what it involves. More because the practice of mindfulness..living each moment rather than allowing life to just pass by…allows us to begin to appreciate our lives. Mindfulness & appreciation appear to be linked to happiness & contentment.
Happiness seems to be linked to kindness also. Personally I feel so lucky to be happy I just want to share it with everybody around me. Unkindness often stems from an internal unhappiness, taking out fears & frustrations on the world. In the same way kindness & generosity seem to come from the courage to be open, to be vulnerable to being taken advantage of. In my opinion it is better to risk being had; asserting yourself & doing what is right, although without being a doormat. I want to maintain my inner conviction that the world is a good place & that people will respond in kind.
On that note I would suggest sharing the happiness & being generous with a gift, your time, or your wisdom. We all have something important to share. At this time of year it is more apparent how the joy is often at least as much in the giving as in the receiving, be it the perfect gift or a phone call or time spent with family or friends. To give without expectation could help us more in our search for happiness than more money or a new love. If we are happier inside then our external circumstances can become something more to be grateful for, rather than a source of greater dissatisfaction.