Rethinking happiness was the focus of episode #3 of The Emotional Life On PBS tonight. There has been much research on happiness and many of the findings were not very surprising. Being happy is not that complicated.
How we respond to what life presents to us definitely shapes our experience of it. We are incredibly resourceful when we decide to be. Even the direst of circumstances offer us learning and ways to find resilience. We can take our experiences and put whatever spin we want to on them.
This program got me thinking that if we shape all of our experiences by our view of them, then if we don’t like what happened, we can change how we think about it. If we lost an opportunity we had been hoping for than we can be open to what new and maybe even better opportunity is on its way. Or we can be bummed out and while sitting in “poor me” miss the next favorable chance for something better.
If how we think about things shapes how we feel about life then what are the possibilities of our life if we go beyond ordinary thinking? Most of our thinking is in the deep rut of obsessive thought focused on yesterday or tomorrow. What would happen if we stopped the old grind of repetitive thinking and instead viewed the world from a higher place of knowing within us? That place beyond the ordinary mind can be called the Higher Self, the intuitive, our spirit, and/or wise mind. This knowing is grounded firmly in the now, not the ego’s determination to drudge up the past or live anxiously about the future.
In the nowness of our Higher Knowing everything is watched impartially free of the drama of the judging mind. This watching allows us to view our life in the joy and peacefulness of the moment. This place of watching, free from the drama, enables us to enjoy even the most difficult of situations. Instead of being caught up in circumstances we just watch joyously in peace with and open heart.
Mindfulness is the practice that will help us shift from the ordinary mind to our extraordinary nature. Past blogs talk about the merits of a mindfulness practice and some tools to explore. In most communities of any size there are people who can teach this truly liberating way of being in the world.
Make 2010 the year you decide to go beyond your ordinary mind and tap into the infinite possibilities awaiting you.
It has been a long tiring day and an early meeting puts me to bed soon. I will return to my daily protest letters tomorrow.
Peace begins inward and spreads as light out into the world.