A Wake Up Call July 19, 2016
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Magick & Mystery, Mindfulness.trackback
Our fundamental unchanging nature is happiness.
Not happiness for a reason.
Happiness for no reason.
Happiness for “a reason” is conditional on the external.
Ego believes it will be happy when it achieves X, Y, or Z.
But as soon as Ego attains the object of its desire, Ego wants more.
Ego always wants more.
Moreover, even if Ego gets what it wants (money, power, fame), Ego isn’t happy because it’s afraid that it will lose it.
- A chef with two Michelin stars wants three.
- A chef with three Michelin stars is fearful of losing a star.
Instead of enjoying the journey of cooking, both chefs are focused on the destination of external (and arbitrary) applause, accolades, and acknowledgment.
It is impossible to be happy NOW if we are caught up in the notion that we need something more than we have before we can be happy.
But we can be happy.
Right here. Right now.
Nothing is standing in our way.
All we have to do is wake up to the truth of our fundamental unchanging nature.
We are Spirit. Spirit is happiness. We are happiness.
Pure, unconditional happiness.
Happiness for no reason.
Happiness that no one can take away.
Happiness which arises of its own accord whenever we shift our perspective from the Ego’s point of view to the more expansive point of view of Spirit.
When we identify with Spirit, rather than Ego, “it’s all good.” Our innate nature exudes happiness no matter what.
The what is, is . . . and it’s OK.
We realize we don’t need anything to be other than it is for us to be happy.
Here, Now.
All we have to do is wake up.
”What are you ~ a god, an angel, a saint?”
“No,” replied The Buddha, “I am A-W-A-K-E.”
Aah . . . that’s better!
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Spirit Lights The Way 
So true, Nancy. I need very little to make me happy. I learned that much from having nothing… When you have nothing you appreciate everything.
Yes! In a documentary on Happiness, the “happiest” guy I saw was a bicycle taxi driver in India who lived in a cardboard shack with his wife and 2 children. He beamed!
He got up for work, had breakfast around the fire, bicycled around all day in the sun and rain, and went home to his shack with a B~I~G smile.
Since he appreciated what he had, he had enough. No desires idling in the background making him miserable.
Very true. Having good health makes me happy and thankful I’m able to get out of bed and walk across the room. There was a time when I was unable to do that. Thanks, Nancy!
Yes! When we have good health, we can take it for granted without appreciating how wonderful simple movement can be.
Imagining being bedridden reminds me to be grateful as I hop out of bed in the morning to face the new day.
So glad that you are able to get “up and at ’em” again, Jill.
Thanks, Nancy! So am I! 🙂
Beautiful message to begin ones day!
Welcome, Wendell. Hope your day is off to a wonderful start!
This summer I have focused on “being in the moment.” I am enjoying my home and surroundings. I make sure I feel the sun and warmth. Simple things make me happy. However, right now a donut would work too.
When I remind myself to “be here . . . now” a smile almost always appears ~ due to noticing the cool tile under my feet, the ticking of the clock, the smell of pizza, the taste of chocolate, the purring of the cat, etc.
Donuts are also smile inducing.
Maybe the true test of happiness is to find someone who’s complaining about life and put a gun to their head. They will most likely panic and run like hell. But I think if they were truly unhappy with life, they’d try to help you pull the trigger.
I’m not willing to test your theory and end up in the slammer. But let me know how it works for you. 😀
Although happiness is automatic, I think it comes in bigger doses when not in the slammer. So I’ll take a pass at this experiment also.
Good call!
Our society does its best to dissuade us from choosing to be happy. So many people don’t get that, along with the idea that you are enough. Not that improvement is bad, as long as it comes from your heart and not your ego. Big difference.
I agree, Ally. Residuals of the Puritan Work Ethic make people feel “guilty” for being happy and enjoying life instead of keeping their nose to the grindstone to “get ahead.”
I’m glad I stepped off that merry-go-round.
Feeling gratitude every morning makes me smile, and I’m set for the day. 🙂
That’s the BEST way to wake up, Sylvia. Then look out your bathroom window and share your smile with Iggy or Sammy.
Hahaha Exactly so. 🙂
Ahhhh….I knew it. Happiness is a jelly doughnut! …but wait…..nooooo….happiness is two jelly doughnuts!………hmmmmm….happierness is three jelly doughnuts…..
By George, I think I got it! 🙂
Buddha Belly Donuts were the BEST! Sadly, due to a family illness, the business closed.
Good post. Thanks.
Thanks, Eileen. To happiness . . . for no reason at all!
Well said Nancy! In this culture it’s kind of weird to be content and not want anything more. Often it’s interpreted as giving up … Rather than being the complete opposite 💛
Yup. We are always supposed to want MORE, MORE, MORE and never settle for LESS.
Once we learn that LESS is MORE, we use our own yardstick and ignore societal dictates and pressures. So much better.
Truth!
I’m trying to stop my happiness being conditional on doughnuts. 🙂
Once you conquer doughnuts, you can apply the same principle to other things ~> e.g., jam sandwiches and living cacti.
It’s that first step that’s the hard one. 🙂
Yes. Man cannot live on bread (and jam) alone. Sometimes only a donut will do.
As everyone else has said, this is very true! Mmm. Donuts.
May your day be wreathed in S~M~I~L~E~S!
So true, Nancy. When I realized that I can don’t require too much to be happy, I let go of the ex who was an angry man, and in turn attracted my current soul mate who is very peaceful. I love the simple and yet rich life in what matters the most: health, love, trust, kindness, creativity, and just having fun with our companionship.
Yes! Letting go of stale baggage adds to our joy and peace ~> we travel best when we travel light.
Enjoy a fun day full of simple pleasures.
Well, Buddha Belly Donuts can increase my happiness!
Even looking at the Buddha Belly logo makes me smile!
I agree with you completely about the source of happiness being better attainable when we step away from ego. But I often wonder if that doesn’t come easier to some than others. My needs have always been very simple, which I think comes from always having a lot of stability in my life–I have always had enough. Not too much, but enough. 🙂 I have watched friends who have not had that same level of provision and stability struggle with happiness and contentment so much more. I still think happiness as you describe it is attainable, regardless of our past, but I do think it’s much harder for some. And if Buddha donuts were in my neighborhood, I wouldn’t be able to resist! 🙂
I agree completely, Debra. When we have “nothing” and our peers have “nothing” (e.g., like the bicycle taxi cab driver in India who was HAPPY and SMILING all the time ~ see comment #1), we are content as long as our basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and companionship are met because our frame of reference doesn’t cause extraneous desires to arise.
But, especially in affluent countries, our peers are everyone we hear about on the Internet or see on TV ~ including Paris Hilton, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Ethan Musk. If we compare ourselves with them, our EGO may WANT what they have even if we don’t need it. Stuff becomes a status symbol . . . and the EGO’s desire for status gets in the way of happiness.
That said, I’d love to see Buddha Belly Donuts return to Sarasota.
I wish the bureaucrats at the visa office would WAKE UP and issue my mother her visa, as she’s due to fly out from South Africa to visit me the day after tomorrow. I’m not happy!
Allowing your happiness to be held hostage by bureaucratic action/inaction is an IFFY proposition at best, BB.