Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Pursuit of Happiness


"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." ~ Dali Lama

What makes you happy? I asked the same question to a group of twenty-five people in a Creative Recovery workshop last Saturday at The Life Healing Center. The answers ranged from hiking in nature, playing with their kids, walking the dog, cooking and eating a great meal, laughing with friends, to feeing heard and understood. No one said money. Not one.

When I reflected this back to the group most of them were surprised. Are you? As a culture we say we want to be happy, but we are preoccupied with the pursuit of money instead, and wonder why we are not happy. Yes, we need money to survive, but how much do we really need? When I was working my way up the corporate ladder, a ladder that has no end, I found out first hand that the amount of money I made bore little relationship to the amount of happiness I was experiencing. In Third Time Lucky I share that my "mantra" during that time was "work hard play hard". A mantra that eventually brought to my knees. Not out of devotion, rather out of stress and exhaustion! 

It is up to you. You decide how happy you are going to be, by how much time you devote to experiences that bring you happiness. It really is that simple. Once you know what makes you happy you can go towards it..... and relax into it.  So I invite you to consider - What truly makes you happy? Your happiness contributes to your community's happiness.

This week is officially "Sustainable Happiness Week " in Santa Fe. It is a part of a global movement calling for a new economic paradigm inspired by the Bhutanese model of Gross National Happiness. In 2011 the United Nations urged member nations  to place  the "Pursuit of Happiness" as a priority in measuring success, over economic development. Wow! If the United Nations can give happiness the thumbs up, you can too!

You are worthy of making happiness a priority in your life. 

Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu (May all beings everywhere be filled with peace and happiness)

Pasha x

1 comment:

  1. True, sister!

    I am happy easily. Colors make me happy, flowers, dewy spider webs in the morning light,listening to music that feels like an old friend, a delicious bath, sitting by water, etc. As a massage therapist, helping someone make their life better via reducing/eliminating pain or reminding people of the basic goodness of life - helping to create ease.

    My challenge is when I am triggered by an event or a thought form. Sometimes it is hard to find my way back, as at that vibration I can access pretty much just what is at that vibration.

    How do you shift out of that place?

    Yvette

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