Listen.
Breathe.
Release all that binds you.
Let it go.
If you like,
Clench your fist tight.
Continue to breathe.
This is what it feels like to cling.
Now open your hand.
Turn your palm upwards.
Continue your breathing.
Get softer now.
This is what it feels like to release.
To let go.
Let's get the hard bit over first.
No matter what anyone tells you,
Your goal in life is not to be happy.
It's nice if you are from time to time,
But so many people through no fault of their own are hardly ever happy.
Listen.
Chasing happiness is like chasing rainbows.
You keep moving,
But so does the rainbow.
You never get there.
If your target is happiness,
How do you suppose it makes you feel when it keeps moving just out of reach?
Unhappy.
The first rule of happiness is that the quest for happiness will invariably make you unhappy.
So is happiness impossible?
Not at all.
Like many things in the universe,
Happiness seems to have some sort of queer quantum reality to it.
Happiness is a byproduct of doing something else.
Happiness is best seen when you are looking at something else.
So plainly,
Bursts of happiness are a side effect.
Stop chasing them.
Something of the same thing is true of misery.
We like to run away from misery,
But hardly ever succeed.
Our mind is focused on our misery and it keeps up with us like a companion dog no matter how we try.
We know some ways in which the side effect of happiness is more likely to be found.
Help others.
Be kind.
Comfort the suffering.
Feed the hungry.
Clothe the naked.
Free the imprisoned.
Speak for justice.
Raise a voice for those whose voices are not heard.
Presto,
You'll probably be happy.
The busy are often happier,
Particularly if they are busy in the service of others.
Happiness is part of the mystery of how the universe is made.
It works for suffering too.
Have you noticed that when you are suffering,
Your thoughts are mostly about yourself?
Poor me,
You think.
With effort and practice,
We can turn our thoughts towards others and helping them.
Presto.
Less suffering.
This also seems to be an inbuilt characteristic of the universe.
How odd that it should be constructed so.
The universe itself gives us exactly what we most seek as long as we do not directly seek it.
The universe itself gives us exactly what we fear as long as that fear consumes us.
So let it all go.
We're a mess.
We cannot be good all the time and neither can we be constantly bad.
There are no saints in this world.
We each have our own secrets and lies.
Sometimes we even believe them ourselves.
There are no demons in this world.
No matter how hard we try,
We cannot erase all our virtue,
All our kindness or all our compassion even if we believe that we have.
Remember even Hitler loved his dog.
So be a mess.
Be a glorious mess.
Accept that you are a glorious mess and everything will become easier.
You need not blame yourself.
Neither may you congratulate yourself.
You are as you are,
As everyone is,
A mess.
Shout it from the rooftops.
I am a mess and that's okay.
Welcome to the human race.
We all have no idea what we're doing.
So relax.
Breathe.
Let go.
