In many ways,
We can look at the point of almost anything we do is because we want to be happy.
All humans,
No matter where they're from,
Who they are,
Want to be free of suffering and to be happy human beings,
To enjoy their lives.
Then the question becomes,
How to be happy?
And one of the most important lessons we've learned through decades and centuries and even millenniums is that happiness does not come from external circumstances,
Does not come from more money,
More stuff,
More things.
That it's more a sense of contentment,
A simple joy.
One word that I feel like exemplifies this is this word equanimity.
This feeling inside you connect with a deep source of contentment,
Of simple joy that's not dependent on the ups and downs of what's happening in your daily life.
The more we feel that we need to depend on good things happening in the world,
Making more money,
Something good happening at work,
Winning some sport game.
The more we need to cling,
The more scared we get of things getting taken away.
So what we want to work on in our practices and in our life is connecting with this feeling of equanimity,
That no matter what happens,
The ups and downs,
The fluctuations,
The good and bad in life,
That we can connect to a deep sense of joy and contentment.
So as things go,
And recognizing the impermanent nature of everything that's happening in our lives,
The good,
The bad,
The ups,
The downs,
That we connect to this deep source within us,
A feeling of lightness and freedom.
As we just enjoy the flow of life,
Recognizing everything we need to experience a profound sense of happiness we have.
Our health,
Friends and family,
And just really simple joys of being out in nature.
Just the amazing ability for us to be warmed by the sun.
Perhaps you could live somewhere where you go to a body of water.
There's a profound sense of contentment that water brings us.
That could be the ocean,
A river,
A lake,
It could even be a man-made body of water.
So learning to take this curiosity.
And as they say,
There's two ways to look at the world.
One,
As if things are a bit boring,
And hence the need to be always checking on your phone or some device.
And the other is to see the world as magical,
To be open,
To note the flow of life in this miraculous nature of being here alive on this planet.
And a true profound sense of gratitude for this precious human life and to enjoy each day,
Each hour,
Each minute,
Moment to moment.
