Last week I asked you to estimate – each day for a week – how much of the time you are happy with your life – and how much of the time you are unhappy/dissatisfied.
Readers have replied with some amazing answers.
Unhappy most of the time won out hands-down…..
One respondent said he was the “Master Creator creating mainly poo….”.
The reason for much unhappiness seems quite obvious: our expectations are flawed.
We live in a world of extraordinary home gadgets, amazing travel opportunities,
astonishing technical advances in communications, medicine, transport options and entertainment.
We have far more money than any other ‘ordinary’ people in the history of the planet……and we have lavish homes filled with almost endless luxuries which once would have been fit only for a king of kings.
Dreams seem to continually come true. The magic carpet has turned into an airline, the pot of gold has turned into cryptocurrencies and the lottery – and the genie with the free wishes has changed into the credit card and the banking system…….
Yet, in spite of every advance, instead of becoming deliriously happier we have become more stressed and distressed than ever before.
We fear for the safety of our personal goods and assets; we fear the terror of the endless wars that encircle us; we struggle to keep up with our society, now driven by rampant mass consumerism and based almost entirely on ever-more efficient productivity.
In our pursuit of continually greater abundance we have almost forgotten our true Selves and we have blithely turned into round-the-clock shoppers and producers of money-making goods and services.
Our external abundance has become our community badge of honour.
Sadly, in becoming so, our internal spirituality – the very core of our being – has become more shallow and hollow, more disconnected from us and the everyday.
The answer, obviously, is to change our perspectives on what is important in our lives.
If it’s the Myer Special and we missed it, we’ll tend to be unhappy.
If it’s the Specialness of our Spirit, we’ll veer toward much more happiness.
To truly find our happiness, we first need to ask the question and then to understand:
what kind of lifestyle would make us most happy?
Exercise Number 2: This week, please journal the answer to that question:
What kind of lifestyle would make us most happy?
Be brave. Take your time. Think about your answer carefully and deeply.
Don’t give the answer you ‘think you should give’….or the answer which would make others happy…..or would ‘save your job’……but write down the answer your Soul shares with you……
(hint: throwing out the modern world is hardly possible; but harmonizing your external world and your internal life is very possible)……
Blessings and hugs,
Namaste!
Les