What if being happy is easier than you thought?

He who has once known the contentment that comes simply through being content will never again be otherwise than content. Tao te Ching

Here is a change of outlook:

In the Far East, there is a line of thinking that equates happiness with knowing what you can do. To put that easterners thought another way, happiness is being happy with what they have. The Tao Te Ching explains: “Embrace simplicity… Be content with what you have and are, and not one can despoil you.”

Most Westerners do not subscribe to that thinking. We want more of what we want and less of what we don’t want. To us, having and not having are the major causes of our happiness or unhappiness. Not having enough of the basic necessities such as food, clothing, or shelter can cause unhappiness. Unfulfilled desires – such as unrequited love, not being able to take a vacation, not having a good car, not having other possessions we want, not having enough money to pay bills, not being able to do the things we want, or not having the time to do them- are major causes for unhappiness.

Having those desired things may make you happy, but there is no certainty that the will. Many people who have those things are unhappy. I think happiness comes in tiny pieces of rays of light in your life. It’s like a spiral of moments that comes and go and make you feel happy, but there aren’t constant. So, when someone ask me “Are you happy?” I find it too vague, too complex. Because happiness cannot be measure.

So where is the true source of happiness?

The true source of happiness is within us

In the book Zen and the Art of Happiness the author, Chris Prentiss, says “Happiness comes from our response to the conditions of our lives. We are powers in and of the Universe. We are able to think, to do, and to create. It is only past conditioning that has taught us to be unhappy about unfolding events. If you respond to being happy, you are happy.

So, it is true that how you conduct yourself along the path that is your life determines how your life unfolds. Only you alone can decide what your world is like.”

You think and you are

~ Change comes one day at a time and it’s possible. What do you think of this outlook? Hope this change helps.

Best,
Cristina