Without a proper definition, happiness will always feel elusive and unattainable. Happiness can seem like an opaque goal until you realize that what you are actually striving for is a mixture of peace and joy. On the road to happiness many get sidetracked by thinking that what they are looking for is pleasure. Getting happiness confused with pleasure becomes problematic because the craving for pleasure builds a lot of tension in the mind and it keeps the mind focused on external things. This idea makes you think that what you need is outside of you. Even when you get what you want there is always more to crave, it is a non-ending and dissatisfying habit pattern.
This is a wonderful distillation and it brought to mind a beautiful poem that a dear friend recently shared with me; particularly how and from where happiness emerges
It is called “The Work of Happiness” by May Sarton
I thought of happiness, how it is woven
Out of the silence in the empty house each day
And how it is not sudden and it is not given
But is creation itself like the growth of a tree.
No one has seen it happen, but inside the bark
Another circle is growing in the expanding ring.
No one has heard the root go deeper in the dark,
But the tree is lifted by this inward work
And its plumes shine, and its leaves are glittering.
So happiness is woven out of the peace of hours
And strikes its roots deep in the house alone:
The old chest in the corner, cool waxed floors,
White curtains softly and continually blown
As the free air moves quietly about the room;
A shelf of books, a table, and the white-washed wall—
These are the dear familiar gods of home,
And here the work of faith can best be done,
The growing tree is green and musical.
For what is happiness but growth in peace,
The timeless sense of time when furniture
Has stood a life's span in a single place,
And as the air moves, so the old dreams stir
The shining leaves of present happiness?
No one has heard thought or listened to a mind,
But where people have lived in inwardness
The air is charged with blessing and does bless;
Windows look out on mountains and the walls are kind.
Great and needed definition! When i think of the “happiness” i am seeking, i think of times in my life when i felt most content or satisfied, and experienced joy and peace often :)
Thank you. It's not easy indeed. Yesterday I was reacting so much but instead of beating myself for what I dud yesterday, this morning I meditate, like every morning, asking for guidance for today. And now I'm reading you and feeling this was the guidance I was looking for 🙏💗
It has been rigid and tense for the last few weeks. Since I have long embarked on my journey of change. Removing unhealthy patterns and cultivating new ones. I have been controlling of my mind and time. I have had expectations and points of which I should follow through all the times. Your post help me realised that I have actually experienced true happiness today. When I balance things out, start listening to my intuition ,questioning what I actually want from all my plans ,do I like how my days feel like and aren’t these works are supposed to be fulfilling and not a torture ? I meditated and wend out for a walk around the park near my home. The meditation cultivates acceptance, the walk brings joy which both combined help me experienced equanimity. However only through your post that I really understood what was today’s experience clearer.
This is a wonderful distillation and it brought to mind a beautiful poem that a dear friend recently shared with me; particularly how and from where happiness emerges
It is called “The Work of Happiness” by May Sarton
I thought of happiness, how it is woven
Out of the silence in the empty house each day
And how it is not sudden and it is not given
But is creation itself like the growth of a tree.
No one has seen it happen, but inside the bark
Another circle is growing in the expanding ring.
No one has heard the root go deeper in the dark,
But the tree is lifted by this inward work
And its plumes shine, and its leaves are glittering.
So happiness is woven out of the peace of hours
And strikes its roots deep in the house alone:
The old chest in the corner, cool waxed floors,
White curtains softly and continually blown
As the free air moves quietly about the room;
A shelf of books, a table, and the white-washed wall—
These are the dear familiar gods of home,
And here the work of faith can best be done,
The growing tree is green and musical.
For what is happiness but growth in peace,
The timeless sense of time when furniture
Has stood a life's span in a single place,
And as the air moves, so the old dreams stir
The shining leaves of present happiness?
No one has heard thought or listened to a mind,
But where people have lived in inwardness
The air is charged with blessing and does bless;
Windows look out on mountains and the walls are kind.
Great and needed definition! When i think of the “happiness” i am seeking, i think of times in my life when i felt most content or satisfied, and experienced joy and peace often :)
Thank you. It's not easy indeed. Yesterday I was reacting so much but instead of beating myself for what I dud yesterday, this morning I meditate, like every morning, asking for guidance for today. And now I'm reading you and feeling this was the guidance I was looking for 🙏💗
It has been rigid and tense for the last few weeks. Since I have long embarked on my journey of change. Removing unhealthy patterns and cultivating new ones. I have been controlling of my mind and time. I have had expectations and points of which I should follow through all the times. Your post help me realised that I have actually experienced true happiness today. When I balance things out, start listening to my intuition ,questioning what I actually want from all my plans ,do I like how my days feel like and aren’t these works are supposed to be fulfilling and not a torture ? I meditated and wend out for a walk around the park near my home. The meditation cultivates acceptance, the walk brings joy which both combined help me experienced equanimity. However only through your post that I really understood what was today’s experience clearer.