Spirit of Happiness

As human beings we go through a whole range of emotional extremes and subtleties; from the need to get up and go to work (whether or not we like it) to celebrating special occasions; from meeting new friends or  successfully completing a goal, to anger about opposing views from our own.  But happiness is a higher state of being; it is an internal wealth of opportunity we can use to transform our lives.

The Dalai Lama has written a book on happiness which millions of people follow; though I have read many books on happiness; I do not believe happiness requires spiritually in the formal sense.  Michael Argyle, in a 2002 publication indicated that from 2001 to the Autumn of 2002 (when his article was published) over 100 new titles have been released on happiness.  With so much emphasis on it, why are we still publishing information about happiness?  Simple, it is the foremost balance we can achieve as human beings.

Happiness is a balance we find within ourselves.  So where do we find this happiness?  Certainly not in material and superficial objects.  No, such things offer a certain pleasure but there is a clear difference between pleasure and happiness.  Happiness is a state of mind when other factors that offer superficial happiness are absent.  Owning a Porsche, a home, getting a raise, eating great food; these things offer momentary pleasure; more importantly, go too much in one direction or the other and they can disappear.  Too much food you over eat, have a car too long, it loses its appeal. Take another example slightly different scenario.

Place yourself on a beach watching the sunset.  While being at the beach provides comfort, the act of watching the sunset (with someone or without someone you enjoy), provides an internal long lasting memory that cannot be removed.  Standing atop a mountain overlooking a grand valley or other mountains on a clear day offers something similar.  Owning a sailboat is one experience but sailing in a wide open space with gentle trade-winds can be transformative.

I begin each morning with a ritual of my own that offers the happiness I seek.  Based solely on my actions and my self understanding of what I need I; each morning I go through a series of meditation poses; I also recite my own personal mantra.  These two activities are not based on anyone else's knowledge, approval, or acknowledgement.  These activities merely add what I found balances my inner self.  They are absent of desires, result in no questions, yet provide complete and utter happiness; it is because nothing else is attached to their existence that allows these activities to be so fulfilling.  More over happiness is something you need to find on your own journey.  So what led me to these activities that provide such balance.

As I was standing on a large boulder, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, relieved of any inhibitions, I raised one knee and began; arms spread, palms up...  It simply felt right.  A release of needs, desires, wants and an absorption of what seemed to exist on a similar plane; the rocks, the ocean, the sunlight, the air.  The absence of give or take, mere existence in the present, and the state of being.