Much of our society is looking for happiness as if life serves happiness on a platter and hands it to you once you have the 4.0 GPA, perfect boy/girlfriend, and enough money to afford a new wardrobe every weekend. But is that really the right way to look at it?
No, it’s not.
Take 30 seconds NOW and reflect on a time in your life that you can remember an instance that you were happy. Truly happy. Was it a fleeting moment? Or is that fire still with you? Remember what made you happy, even if it was for just an instance.
I can remember when these isolated instances of happiness. Besides the Holiday gifts (I include my birthday in this, obvi), the moments where I was truly happy, were where I grew. Like, when I finally landed by first Crow Pose. Those moments leading up to my initial success were not all bread and spiced olive oil. They were hard work. The mountain you want to climb may look big. But only from the view that you’re looking at it from. It’s your perspective. When my (adorable) three year old cousin looks at their 4’2″ dog, he looks huge. But if he keeps growing, in six years, he’ll be a lot taller than I am. Why? Because he grew.
The biggest thing is to never be satisfied with where you are at. My cousin won’t stop growing once he is 4’2″ too, he wants to get taller. Too look at that once mountainous thing and to then reflect and say how silly he was for think that it was impossible to reach.
Once you get stick that Crow Pose, try the Crooked Crow. Keep growing. Don’t say that once you get an A in one class you stop. Get an A in all classes. Then, get all As using less of your time so you have time for new thing.
I believe that if you aren’t going in one direction, you’re going in the other. You can’t be neutral. Maybe for a day you can be stagnant, but soon being stagnant with become decay. Don’t decay. Grow. So how can you do this? By following by tips below:
Don’t look FOR happiness.
Much of what our culture indulges in is for temporary satisfaction. Why else would we watch ‘just another’ episode on Netflix, or eat ‘just another’ Crunchy Taco Supreme? We binge-eat, binge-drink, and binge-watch hoping that by over-doing, we will for sure be full of happiness. Sure, that other episode of Gossip Girl will distract me a little more from my life, but what about once that episode stops? My life didn’t stop. I stopped. And now I am behind.
People don’t know what to look for anymore. They assume that happiness is the end goal, so they just look for that. Do any of us know when our ‘end’ is? Of course not. So how do we know when the correct time is to be happy?
Happiness is not an end goal. Happiness is the fulfillment you get while living out your purpose. You need to define your purpose because once you have that, then you have values and you can quickly make decisions by seeing which decision best supports your values and purpose.
Of course, that requires effort. But we get a life full of happiness and fulfillment of it. Most of the time, in order to get something new and better we want, we need to grow as a person to get it.
Look FOR growth.
Why were we placed on this earth? To (over)use Mother Nature’s resources and then peace out when it is our time to leave?
I don’t think so.
I do think that each one of use was put there for a specific reason, to somehow better this world. What is that ‘somehow’? I don’t know. That’s what we all have to figure out, individually. Imagine if every one of us, instead of destroying our communal home looked for an improvement we could make. Think of all the wonderful inventions and progress that occur, if we have growth in mind, not our own happiness. But, I guarantee you, once you have the right mindset, and experience constant growth, you will be happy.
Look for your ONE thing.
As I said, I think everyone has a certain purpose in them. I do believe that we can create ourselves if we want to be a science wiz, then there are classes we can take that make us exactly that. I also believe that each one of us has some finding to do, within ourselves. We need to find that ONE thing that can fill us with positive energy, and light a fire in our soul, even on the coldest night. That energy will keep us persistent and make sure we fulfill our purpose and keep experiencing growth.
Don’t look to satisfy your happiness. Look to satisfy your purpose in the world, that will take care of your happiness.