Your home for exploring philosophy with an emphasis on Buddhism and Stoicism. Part of this exploration will be taking on some of the more important issues that we are facing and providing alternatives to this Orwellian society.
Tag: happy
Random Thoughts / Poetry
I catch myself complaining about things
Let it go
I expect things to turn out a certain way
Expect nothing
I will be happy when such and such happens
Be happy now
Everything is changing
Change yourself
I can’t do this
Yes you can
It’s too hard to do this shit
No, it isn’t
I’m too tired
Do it anyway
No more excuses
Namaste
This post was proofread by Grammarly.
Random Thoughts / Poetry
We make so much of every situation
It all seems so important
A heightened level of anxiety becomes our natural state
We are told to escalate for every issue
Everything becomes critical
Our life is one of hyperactivity
Driven to achieve by ourselves and others we are exhausted
Is it any wonder we are so unhappy?
We are asked to do more and more with the same amount of limited time
Our life is now dominated by schedules and to-do lists
The pace we set for our life cannot be sustained
We seek the answer in meditation, yoga, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and any other number of ways to calm our mind and give our life meaning
The days become a blur as they pass us by
You tell yourself someday I will jump off this hamster wheel, once I earn a little more money
That day never happens and you die never having really lived
Is that really what you want from your life?
Stop deferring your fucking life
Today I will jump off the hamster wheel even if for an hour or two
Once I taste freedom I will cease to jump back on the wheel
Remember the world will always try to pull you back into the vortex
Only you can save yourself
Namaste
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Random Thoughts / Poetry
We spend so much time and energy searching for the meaning of life
Always looking for a purpose
Is it success at work?
Is it material things?
Is it happiness?
All this seeking is exhausting
Be patient it’s just around the corner
Am I there yet?
Where is my purpose?
Maybe there is nothing to find
Nothing to become
Maybe we are to just be
Namaste
If you would like to support this blog, check out the awesome selection of eBooks at:
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Visit my other blog Inspirational Book Reviews where I review some incredible literature.
Random Thoughts / Poetry
I diligently followed my expectations
Things didn’t turn out the way I thought they would, leaving me disappointed and unfulfilled
I set a new goal and the pattern repeated itself leading to more disappointment
I decided to try again but without any expectations
I let things unfold as they will
No expectations, no disappointment
Learning to live without expectations
Namaste
If you would like to support this blog, check out the awesome selection of eBooks at:
Mind, Body, Spirit books at eBooks.com
If eBooks aren’t your thing, check out my Resources page for additional ways to support this blog.
Visit my other blog Inspirational Book Reviews where I review some incredible literature.
Random Thoughts / Poetry
We are always seeking to improve ourselves
We think if I master this or that I will be content
We pursue a litany of goals only to achieve them and still feel unsatisfied
We think once I have this or that I will be happy
We wish our life away
We are never happy as our goals and desires are a moving target
We never live in the present moment
Namaste
If you would like to support this blog, check out the awesome selection of eBooks at:
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Visit my other blog Inspirational Book Reviews where I review some incredible literature.
There is a movement in recent times that sets an expectation that we can live a life filled with happiness. Gretchen Rubin wrote a book a few years back called the “Happiness Project” where she expounds on a number of ways to increase your level of happiness. We are constantly subjected to a barrage of advertising that shows us how happy people are with that new car, drinking beer at the beach, or taking expensive vacations to Caribbean. All of these things advocate living a lifestyle that will make us happy forever more. There is a high expectation that if you just buy this, learn this, or do this activity happiness will follow.
Unfortunately a consistent state of happiness is probably an illusion, and thinking that it is achievable may be somewhat dangerous to enjoying life. What I mean by this is that you are setting an expectation that is not achievable and this will actually cause you to think something is wrong with you if you are not in a constant state of bliss.
Each of us face so many challenges in our life such as health issues, family strife, making a living, and the list goes on and on. Do you really expect that you will feel happy during what are often very negative events that occur? You need to give yourself the opportunity to feel angry, sad, frustrated, inpatient, as these events unfold. That doesn’t mean you wallow in your pain and conduct a lifelong pity party, but allow yourself some time to express your feelings.
While it is true you can emerge from a painful situation, stronger and wiser, you may even learn something from it, but you will not be in some state of continuous euphoria.
Instead of expecting a life filled with happiness whatever that really means, be realistic and expect that your emotions will rise and fall like the tide. I really like listening to speakers like Les Brown, Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor, Esther Hicks, Mel Robbins, and Jim Rohn; these people are very motivating and can give you some great tips for being more successful and effective in life. Things like the Law of Attraction and the 5 second rule are great tools for enhancing your life, but like any tool it will have its limitations. Most of the time I hover somewhere in between happiness and sadness, somewhere in the middle, not overcome by either emotion.
My parting advice would be:
Just don’t fall into the trap that your life should be one where you are in some heightened state of happiness all the time.
A certain amount of our life is dealing with pain, it happens to all of us, and we can avoid the suffering associated with it, but it is a difficult thing to do. I like the quote below because it resonates with me. I make no claims to have eliminated all attachment in my life, but I agree it is often the source of suffering.
Namaste
If you asked most people what their ultimate goal in life is, probably 90% would say to be happy. Why is being happy such an elusive state of mind for most of us? We struggle to make money, raise a family, buy houses and cars, and with all that we still don’t find a whole lot of happiness in our lives. Over the past 10 years I have tried a lot of things to increase my level of happiness and I wanted to share a few of those things that actually worked for me. So here are few things you might try:
Namaste
We often wish for something that we are experiencing to change so that we can be happy. Maybe we think if I had a better job and made more money, or my relationships were more more fulfilling I would be happier. You know the drill if something in my life would change I would experience more happiness, so we go about trying to make those changes, get that new job, trade in one relationship for another, take up another hobby, and still any lasting happiness seems elusive. I would agree sometimes these changes are for the better, and may enrich our lives in numerous ways, but they do not lead to happiness. Why?
We are all looking for something or someone to make us happy, and unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. You can’t make yourself happy with things or people, this only leads to seeking the next conquest. Ever got a promotion at work? This may have given you some sense of satisfaction for a while, maybe a sense of validation for all your hard work. How quickly did it all wear off? A week, a month, or maybe just a couple of days.
Alright smart ass so what is the key to happiness? Well for me I have found only one answer and it will cost you nothing, but pay you back in so many ways. You must sit and meditate. A couple quotes from Buddha might help.
“There is no path to happiness: Happiness is the path.” Buddha
So you cannot seek happiness through those things we think will make us happy. Only you can make yourself happy. My claim is that meditation sets the stage for you to acquire the happiness yourself.
Buddha was asked, “What have you gained from meditation?” He replied, “Nothing!” “However, Buddha said, let me tell you what I lost: Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Insecurity, Fear of Old Age and Death.”
Meditation will help you lose those things that affect your ability to be happy. After you have been meditating for some time you will begin to notice that when your meditation session is complete you immediately become less judgmental, critical, and on the flip side you become more compassionate, more connected to others, and more present.
Try my free happiness prescription, after all what do you have to lose?
Namaste
Joseph Sacco - The Stoic Buddhist 