Regardless of your faith or religious path, each comes with certain disciplines that should be followed in order to attain the success the path offers. Meditation daily, prayer daily or multiple times, eating the right foods and avoiding those that are not allowed. All these should be practiced with love.
I mention quite a bit in my blog about my practice of a “do nothing day”. I wanted to correct that here. There are certain disciplines my religious path requires and even on my “do nothing day” these are done. I read from my bible, I study my discourses, I do my spiritual exercises, and I do my daily journaling. I perform these tasks with joy and detachment. Detachment means I do these things without expectation of a revelation, reward, or some other benefit. I do them out of love for God.
One of the quotes provided by the teachings I follow is that “All is in its rightful place in the worlds of God.” – Sri Harold Klemp. This statement if taken to heart provides a sense of contentment. I have all I need. I am happy. I am safe. I am content. How could I not be if “All is in its rightful place in the worlds of God”?
Many people are constantly looking for happiness. They look here and there, hoping they can find it. What is sad and funny is that happiness is within. It is sad for those who do not know this and are constantly looking for it somewhere else. Perhaps happiness can be found in making a lot of money. Perhaps I can get my happiness through another person. Perhaps I could get a better job, a better car, or a better set of clothes. It is funny because when we finally discover that happiness is within, we stop striving. We stop looking. We realize after all the time we spent suffering that we had happiness with us the whole time.
I wish everyone could experience the contentment I felt when I woke up this morning. I woke up, had my breakfast, did my journaling, my spiritual reading, and my religious studies. As I was doing these things a calmness came. Along with this calmness came contentment and happiness. Because I realized how great life is. The only way I can describe it is the feeling that arose with a scene in my mind about being a kid on Saturday morning with a box of cereal in his hand, watching cartoons with his brother. How we laughed.
We lose this simple happiness as we bear the mantle of life. Now there are bills. There are people to take care of. There are responsibilities. Those childhood memories fade away, as responsibility and worry take over. Then, one day, we reawaken those childhood memories. We realize that happiness has always been there, hidden under the clutter of our lives. A clutter, mind you, that we created because we wanted to recapture this happiness, but forgot where we put it.
Today, even if for a moment, think about a time in your life you were truly happy. Was it because someone else made you happy? Was it because of the things you had? Was it because of the way you looked? I think you’ll find that those moments of peak happiness were simple times. You were happy because you just were. I wish you every happiness in life. You already have it within you. Rediscover that.
Until next time…
Dave
Daily Ramblings... 