I keep remembering one of my Guru’s teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don’t, you will leak away your innate contentment. It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.
Eat, Pray, Love
Divorce was final 2 months and 1 day ago. Put my dog down 4 weeks ago today. My ex-husband was put on "furlough" yesterday and is basically out of a job. I'm slowly starting to get my bearings back after the very abrupt ending to my last relationship 3 weeks ago today. But I'm okay. I'm starting to realize that life goes on. It has always, always amazed me how life goes on.
When I was growing up, my grandmother was my best friend in the world. She died 22 years ago and still, sometimes, I can hardly believe she's been gone. That I went on. I got married. I had a child. I got older without her. It still feels odd. But life does indeed go on. And I'm going on with it.
This sense of peace has sort of descended upon me. And I have great faith that this peace can segue into happiness and that I can fight to maintain that happiness. Not that sad times won't come, not that I won't get frustrated and crazed, but that I can participate, relentlessly, in the manifestations of my own blessings and be a better person for it.
High on life! Walkin' on sunshine! Seriously, what am I smoking? Eh, screw it! Maybe it's the new me! And the old me needs to stop participating in the relentless mocking of new me and jump on board.
Eat, Pray, Love
Divorce was final 2 months and 1 day ago. Put my dog down 4 weeks ago today. My ex-husband was put on "furlough" yesterday and is basically out of a job. I'm slowly starting to get my bearings back after the very abrupt ending to my last relationship 3 weeks ago today. But I'm okay. I'm starting to realize that life goes on. It has always, always amazed me how life goes on.
When I was growing up, my grandmother was my best friend in the world. She died 22 years ago and still, sometimes, I can hardly believe she's been gone. That I went on. I got married. I had a child. I got older without her. It still feels odd. But life does indeed go on. And I'm going on with it.
This sense of peace has sort of descended upon me. And I have great faith that this peace can segue into happiness and that I can fight to maintain that happiness. Not that sad times won't come, not that I won't get frustrated and crazed, but that I can participate, relentlessly, in the manifestations of my own blessings and be a better person for it.
High on life! Walkin' on sunshine! Seriously, what am I smoking? Eh, screw it! Maybe it's the new me! And the old me needs to stop participating in the relentless mocking of new me and jump on board.
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