A New Leaf

Radical thought of the day--all this stuff is supposed to be fun!

OK, maybe not "supposed to," but it definitely can be. And a lot more of the time that we usually think.

As I look back at this blog over the last year, so much of my writing seems so serious--sometimes I think I missed the point entirely.

What happens as we go down this path is a bunch of things, and they all have to do with how our minds work.

First, we figure out that all that stuff we're doing to try to make ourselves happy isn't doing the trick.

We see that doing comes from the left hemisphere of the brain, and the left brain is never happy because there is always something left to do! There is always some imagined future and we aren't there yet. But we'll never be there. We're the rat on the wheel and we don't see a way off.

Then, we see that when we experience the world through the right side of the brain, we can be here right now, present, and that experience is utterly blissful. There is no other way it can be. The right side of the brain is simply amazed at the world exactly as it is, and at ourselves exactly as we are. 

So the secret of happiness was right here all along, in our own head. And to see that, what do we need to do? In the purest sense, absolutely nothing. But things that take us into the right brain can help us be more clear--that could be meditating, but it could also be a walk in the park, a sunset, or time with your dog. Anything that puts us in the present moment, that takes us out of our list and into our love. Even one deep breath can do it.

It turns out that happiness is right here inside us and all we need to do is let it out.

So if there is nothing we need to do to be happy, then what do we do with our lives? 

Anything we want!

All we have to see is that our happiness, our self worth, does not depend on anything outside of us. Happiness and joy are our essential nature. And our fears, just like our hopes and dreams, are just thoughts that come and go. They have nothing to do with the vast consciousness that we are. 

What do you want to define you? Hard work, burdens, responsibilities? Or creation and fun and bliss?

In each and every moment, that's our choice.

Jeff