05/26/2021
Many people seek for happiness in external things.
“I’ll be happy once I get that car.”
“I’ll be happy once I get that house.”
“I’ll be happy once I get that job.”
“I’ll be happy once I find my soulmate.”
Always seeking for happiness in the next moment, and the next moment, completely overlooking the happiness that is available in this moment.
True happiness is not dependent on circumstances, but on your state of being. True happiness is within.
Say you get that house you’ve always wanted—then what? You’ll have to keep it clean, you’ll likely worry about it, strive to protect it, fear anything may happen to it, and your attitude toward it will likely change eventually, as all things do.
Say you find your soulmate—then what? You’ll still have challenges in the relationship, personal issues that interfere with the harmony between you and provide opportunities for growth, you will fear losing them, and may suffer if they eventually pass, as all things do.
The point is that there is no final destination to reach. Things keep moving, life keeps changing. The thing we desire and see as the cause of our happiness will eventually change, as will our attitude towards it, and this is only natural.
The issue is in thinking we can get lasting happiness from something impermanent. Lasting happiness comes from being able to accept and appreciate life through all its changes, however it shows up. Lasting happiness comes from settling into your own natural being, here and now in the present moment.
If you are at peace in your being, you can enjoy whatever experience you have, without clinging to it and thinking it is the source of your joy.
We can only connect with our natural being when we stop racing and chasing things outside of ourselves—when we slow down, pause, and simply be.
Then we can be at peace right here and now, content with whatever happens. We can be destination-less, realizing the joy is in the journey, not in the destination.
An old Zen saying states “having no destination, I am never lost.” I believe it is in this spirit of being that one finds true freedom and happiness.
