Indulge me and please read that line again.
Does anything pop out to you? What does happiness mean to you?
When was the last time you would say that you were happy?
Was it in a situation? How long did it last? How did you feel afterward?
Did it seem like there was a goal or an achievement?
Ask this is it that we need to get something to attain happiness? Now a days, happy has become attached to a sense of excitement and enthusiasm. Like an upper or as I call it an up vibration. What goes up usually comes down and that creates a see-saw effect. I am sure you have used or heard from close ones “I am not happy.” or “If you’re not happy then…” I need to make myself happy.” Now your mind has a lot more thoughts and needs. A great place for self-doubt to fester, because we are made to believe we are missing something. Marketing and social conditioning have also facilitated your self-doubt into believing you need to buy whatever they are selling, which is a false pursuit of happiness.
OMG, we are missing something? How do I get it? What do I need? How will I get it?
Sometimes we fall into this trap so be aware!
When we go after something that is from a place of lack of or self-doubt we are attracting more of the same.
Now we are in resistance and will receive more.
Take a diet for example. If you choose to start a diet from a place of feeling bad about yourself, then you have cultivated a place of resistance. It will be a task which will carry resentment and may lead to failure, shame, and disappointment. As a personal example being a rebellious teen during Passover, eight days of no carbs and all you notice everywhere around you is a world of bread, cookies, muffins, and cake.
the more I craved it and the more difficult it became. Of course, I would eat the forbidden food and felt guilty. Then if asked I lied, it was an endless nightmare of not being a happy camper.
If we were to approach it from a different place it could generate a better chance of success. How about
I am on a nutrition-rich diet to honor my body because we need each other.I am grateful to my body as we share the love, delights, and wonders together. Trick is to give it as little resistance as possible. Not to give it an unnatural hold over you.
*THERE IS NOTHING TO ACHIEVE -EVERYTHING YOU NEED YOU ALREADY HAVE*
On to my favorite underdog
drum roll in your mind, please…
Contentment
Contentment is birthed and cultivated from gratitude and appreciation. A place of all is right and as it should be. When your mind wanders off quietly into the “zone.” When you are doing something or with someone and the feelings are effortless. It is a lack of desire. It has a very subtle vibration yet it expands so far and is responded to as easily. That is where your inner glow comes from. If you are taking pictures and it’s natural to do so, your photographs will most certainly reflect that. It is an authentic reflection of the action you took. The vibration was collected and is now returning to you. You had no expectation at that moment of the outcome. Only in post-processing will it have a new inner dialogue. If you take a moment and remind yourself of when you were capturing that shot and the feeling, you had then, blink and see your outcome again, You adjusted your inner lens haha to give yourself a new perspective. Let the resistance go. Overthinking is a place of resistance as well.
Return to a place of ease. This is contentment, a place of satisfaction. It is your sacred space. Radiate, express your gratitude which brought you to that moment. Release all that does not serve you.
You are perfectly imperfect.
I will leave you with these two quotes to ponder.
Money can buy happiness but not contentment. ~T.Josh
He who is contented is rich ~ Lao Tzu
Special thanks to my mother who shared some of her wisdom on this and a kindred spirit who would not join me in the water because she is at ease behind the camera!
Love, Peace, and Harmony ~ Amanda
