This wonderful world we live in has an abundance of things to enjoy. These gifts are all around us in nature. They can also show up in the enjoyment of our vocation, listening to, or playing music, living in a nice home, and perhaps even hanging out eating a pizza and drinking a beer. The ways for us to enjoy this life on this planet are countless and can be different for all of us.
These things can bring us small happiness and can either be harmful to our health and spirit or can serve to improve our health and nourish our spirit. I do not feel I need to go into details as to which are which, as I am sure, when you are honest with yourself, you can discern the difference.
So why do I use the term small happiness? It is because all of these are fleeting. They can come and go, and they do. They also have the primary objective of satisfying the ego and pacifying the emotions. This does not mean we do not want them in our lives since life is to be enjoyed.
There is another deeper type of happiness, one in which we are at peace. One that is not dependent on whether or not we are having a pleasant experience. I call this Big Joy! It is the joy and peace that come from our original spirit being fulfilled.
When we have the temporary experience of small happiness life can be fun, at the moment. However once that is over we will have a need for the next temporary happiness to leave us feeling good. Conversely, when we are living in the experience of Big Joy, which only requires us to stay open, connected to the moment regardless of what it has to offer, and engaged in that experience, life becomes truly Joyful. We can say we are at peace.
Along with being at peace with whatever our mind and emotions are going through at that moment this helps us to become clear on our bigger purpose which leads to an even bigger joy.
So the next time life throws you a curve ball or becomes overwhelming, understand that what is going on is not happening to you. You are simply having an experience and allow yourself to let go of small happiness for the time being and find Big Joy!
With Big Joy, small happiness is easy.
