Life is full of good times and full of bad times.
You may have heard about all the joys of meditation, how it can reduce stress, make you calmer and just make you feel better in general. There’s a benefit of being happier in your life.
However, one of the most common questions that come up is where this happiness comes from. Nowadays, life is filled with pressures from work, issues with social groups and expectations to get things done. Is there really enough time to be happy?
These people believe that meditation will help them find a new source of happiness in their life, but where does this happiness actually come from? In short, much like the oceans of the world, it’s always there.
A Journey to Find Happiness
When you’re sad or feeling down, it’s hard to imagine what happiness feels like.
If you’re going through a hard time or continuing to go through a hard time, it can be very challenging to envision what happiness feels like. I’m talking about real raw happiness that you can’t control.
However, being happy isn’t as black and white as ‘being happy’ and ‘not being happy’. Some days we are excited to be alive and feel motivated to have the best day. Others, not so much. Some days you can feel productive and others, not. It’s a constantly changing and evolving set of emotions.
When it comes to meditation, the practice understands that life is never the same, moment to moment.
So, how can we set about actively recognising the happiness that exists, rather than focusing on the negatives?
In short, it all comes down to our perception of life.
Perception is the Key
The majority of our lives we spend thinking about our external selves. This is how others perceive us and how we perceive the situations around us. We are constantly filled with judgements. One day you might think it’s too hot. Sometimes you think it might be too cold.
Perhaps you feel like you’re late. Perhaps you feel safe and secure. Other days you may feel angry and irritated, all for no reason whatsoever. In situations like this, we tend to look for external reasons, such as financial problems, or maybe a friend let you down. Rarely do we look inside ourselves.
We tend to forget that feelings represent the surface of what our minds are capable of thinking.
Imagine the oceans mentioned above. You might have a thick fog that clouds your ocean that is life. This fog is full of doubt, worry, anxiety and it clouds our view of the beautiful blue ocean.
It’s an endless stream of comments and judgements that build up the elusive power that this fog has.
Of course, if you try too hard to clear the fog, you wound up getting irritable when it does clear, and you end up demanding more from yourself. You end up judging yourself when you can’t provide.
Balance is Necessary
It’s all about clearing your mind of these judgemental thoughts and feelings. Don’t take things at face value, recognise the deeper connections that feelings and events in your life have. With this, you’ll learn to appreciate the little things that are positive and even the positive benefits that come from negative events.
Approach this subject within yourself with patience and treat your mind gently. Through meditation, you can become central and neutral, cleaning your mind so you can become truly happy with who you are and what you’re doing.