Happiness

"The waters of life are wherever you are - If you follow your bliss you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time."  Joseph Campbell

I was once asked, what is "Perfect Happiness?  "Perfect Happiness" should first be differentiated from pleasure. Pleasure comes from things we humans are attached to and strive to obtain.  Our society, parents, and even many religions indoctrinate us to crave pleasure.  While cravings (aka attachments) can bring temporary pleasure, they cannot provide ongoing bliss and joy which I think is well described by the word, "contentment".  This type of lifelong happiness comes from abandoning exclusive self-cherishing and learning to cherish others at least as much as we cherish ourselves.  To achieve this we don't necessarily need to change our lifestyle, but we do need to change our views and intentions. Specifically, we need to have a loving mind toward everyone and resolve our mortality paradox.  There are many guides/philosophies that can aid in achieving this mindset.  The contentment approach that resonated with me derived from a compilation of wisdom in the following books (listed in the order I recommend reading):
Embracing a minimalist lifestyle complements the philosophies espoused above.    Simplicity (both material and mental) is a key to living well and contentedly as nicely outlined in this article.  

Is being "loved by a special someone" an essential component of happiness?  Surprisingly, not!  At least in the traditional/romantic sense.  If love has a role, it is only if you embrace M. Scott Peck's and Anthony de Mello's descriptions in their books above.  

One excerpt, "You have been programmed by society and your culture to believe that you would not be happy without certain persons and certain things...What makes you happy or unhappy is not the world and the people around you, but the thinking in your head...it is your desires and attachments that make you tense, frustrated, nervous, insecure, and fearful...If you learn to enjoy the scent of 1000 flowers you will not cling to one or suffer when cannot get it. Anthony de Mello, "The Way to Love", 

More in my Love & Friendship post.

Song's that embody these ideas include the Avett Brothers', "Untitled #4" , Kansas, "Dust in the Wind", Need to Breath's "More Heart Less Attack"  James Taylor, "You've Got a Friend",  Bob Marley, "Don't Worry Be Happy" 

Visit my "Books that Shaped My Life & Philosophy" page for a wider range of topics to investigate.




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