Day 3,855

Growth:

Such a beautiful quote from Awareness:

Do you want to be happy? Uninterrupted happiness is uncaused. True happiness is uncaused. You cannot make me happy. You are not my happiness. You say to the awakened person, “Why are you happy?” and the awakened person replies, “Why not?”

Anthony de Mello

True happiness is already in us, it is already there. Stop pushing it way, stop focusing on that which we don’t have.

Appreciation:

Sometimes we have to learn lessons and grow through subtraction. This is often initially not present and can be rather frustrating. In removing we’ve gotten used to as “normal” we can quickly fixate on what has been removed rather than what is still there.

Personally, I find moments like this to be opportunities to pause and remember to choose gratitude. To be thankful for what I had while I had it, to be thankful for the lesson I learned, to remember that I already have all I need to be happy, losing something isn’t an impediment to joy, rather, it is quite often a pathway to get back to it.

Presence:

There is happiness to be found in presence in the most normal moments of life. In joking with Becky. In enjoying a good song. In repairing a home appliance. In doing some professional work on a Saturday. In engaging in a conversation with someone we don’t know well. In reading a book. In cooking a meal. In playing a game. In writing.

What do these moments all have in common? They were all moments in which I was fully present, fully engaged, all without distraction.

Thanks!!!