When was the last moment you were truly happy, overcome with the feeling of delight, at peace with yourself, at peace with others? How many of those moments have you had this year, the past year, the year before... ?
It is human nature that all of us long for happiness; yet, we fail to attain it because we do not understand it. We think: I will be happy once I finish school, I will be happy once I have money, I will be happy once I reach my goals, I will be happy once I lose weight, I will be happy once I find someone special, etc.
However, we find that once we get the things we wanted, accomplished the things we wanted to, get married and have children-we are still unhappy, we may be just partially happy. We then think of other things to own and other things to achieve that will make us FINALLY HAPPY.
Understand, if you cannot be happy right now with yourself and with who you are, you are NOT going to be happy when you get the things that you thought would make you happy. You are unhappy because you waste away too much time "wishing, desiring, and thinking about the future." You postpone your happiness until you get something, achieve something; you postpone your happiness to the uncertain future.
The simple key to true happiness is purely: living to the fullest potential the moment you have right now. Be present with this very moment! Pay attention to this very moment! Focus on the moment you have right now. These moments are called, "Life Moments," the moments that truly give life meaning. They are the moments that when you are on your deathbed, you will look back, cherish, laugh, and weep with tears of joy.
It was the moment you saw beauty in nature, it was the moment you began to love yourself, it was the humble moment, the powerful connection that you had with someone or something...
You will find that while you lie in your deathbed, the things you will regret are: I didn't love more, I didn't pay attention, I let months, years go by, I was self-fish, I was too busy thinking about the future...
If you want to truly be happy, make every moment a Life Moment. Really pay attention to what you are doing while you are doing it. Be present at the very moment; don't let your mind wonder, "what's next, what's next... can't wait for lunch, can't wait to get off work, can't wait for the trip, can't wait for payday... gotta do laundry, gotta run errands... "
Right now is the ONLY moment you have. You can only be happy from moment to moment if you are present in every moment. We miss so much Life Moments because we race through life, because we have forgotten to be here...
People who don't have enough real moments eat more, they drink more, and they watch TV more-because they need stimulation in order to not feel the space of meaninglessness in their life; they need distraction in order to not feel the burden of emptiness in their life.
Next time you are talking to someone, doing something, let yourself be there entirely, let yourself wholeheartedly be in that very moment: you will find that when you sincerely connect to that person or thing, there is an inner, subtle balance within yourself which will overcome you with bliss. You will find splendor in every moment. You find nothing unpleasant and everything beautiful. You will find there is no time to "not be happy." You will find life is now!
The following passage from my upcoming book, Star Watchers illustrates the regret of life:
"... In the intensive care unit, years swept like days,
Accumulating like growth rings on a tree's trunk.
Each new coat marks the passing of a year. The woman
Aging with the evergreens outside the hospital window
Could not be revived from this slumbering and enduring state.
The nurses only watching as she rises and declines
From in and out of her adjustable bed, prowling the recovery
room,
Performing activities as if she is awake but she is not.
And upon the pendulum clock that hangs over the patient's
door,
She counts the bobbing and swaying of its rod to pass the
hours.
Then when she finally recovered from this sickness,
She rises from her velvet laced bed
Only to come back to her senses. Gripping the brass shaft
Of reality, she stands before the pendulum clock to see it
cloaked
With a family of dust and dirt she had always intended to
smudge away.
Waving towards a pedestrian outside, she inquiries of him
today's date.
Upon his answer her plump body jolts and she is devastated
with tears-
Twenty years had sailed by without her noticing the parade of
its vessel flags
Or clanking of its anchors... "
Accumulating like growth rings on a tree's trunk.
Each new coat marks the passing of a year. The woman
Aging with the evergreens outside the hospital window
Could not be revived from this slumbering and enduring state.
The nurses only watching as she rises and declines
From in and out of her adjustable bed, prowling the recovery
room,
Performing activities as if she is awake but she is not.
And upon the pendulum clock that hangs over the patient's
door,
She counts the bobbing and swaying of its rod to pass the
hours.
Then when she finally recovered from this sickness,
She rises from her velvet laced bed
Only to come back to her senses. Gripping the brass shaft
Of reality, she stands before the pendulum clock to see it
cloaked
With a family of dust and dirt she had always intended to
smudge away.
Waving towards a pedestrian outside, she inquiries of him
today's date.
Upon his answer her plump body jolts and she is devastated
with tears-
Twenty years had sailed by without her noticing the parade of
its vessel flags
Or clanking of its anchors... "
-Star Watchers, "Sleepwalker"
Hi! I think your blog is very interesting.
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