High on Happiness

Archive for the ‘Happiness Hows’ Category

Chocolate.

Definitely, chocolate.

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” –Alice Walker

I love that line.  If you don’t recognize it, it’s Celie’s line from the last scene of the novel – and movie – The Color Purple.

I don’t know if God gets pissed off or not.  But I get what Celie’s saying.  To walk past beauty without it even registering in your awareness is cold, man.  I mean, there it is, all laid out for your pleasure and you walk on by without so much as a nod.  What’s up with that?

Oh yeah, I hear you:  “You seen one sunset, you’ve seen ‘em all.”  I know your type.  Aloof.  Jaded.  Untouchable.  You’re the ice man.  It’s all about you.  But nobody’s home.

But you know what?  The purple flowers are all about you, too, and the sky drenched in stunning color, and the green flags of grass, and the sheen of the morning sun on the pavement.  They’re for you.  They’re here to remind you that this isn’t a dream.  You’re real, and you’re alive.  And these gifts are wrapped in beauty just to touch your heart, because you matter and you’re loved, whether you know it or not.

Look at the palm of your hand.  That’s a miracle, man.  Press it to your chest.  Feel what’s in there.  That’s a miracle, too.  All that body warmth.  All that emotion.

Life doesn’t ask much of you, considering all it does for you.  It gives you free reign to make your choices and keeps your heart beating no matter which ones you make, just as if you were its favorite son.  The least you can do is give it a nod of recognition.  You know, notice the good stuff it pours out all around you.  Slip into not-ice mode once in awhile.

You never know.  It could change everything.

Take time for some moments of ease in your life, some moments for letting cares go.  Few are the problems that will not wait, or benefit, from being forgotten for awhile.

Walk somewhere that you can see a tree, a flower, the broad expanse of sky.  Walk easily, as if all the time in the world was yours (for it is, you know, and you’re free to spend it as you will).

Sit on a patch of grass.  Rifle your hands through it and feel how alive it is.  Feel the soil beneath it, the stuff that gives birth to everything that sustains us.  Breathe the air; inhale its fragrances; feel its warmth.

Hear the world’s music.  The delicate rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds.  Pretend you’re a kid again: Cup your hands over your ears and roll them forward and back and listen to the sounds change and laugh at the miracle of hearing.

Look at the wondrous expanse of sky, its light veiling the cosmos.  Watch the heaped clouds, made of nothing but water, floating on the wind.

Study it all as if you were seeing it for the first time, or as if you had just been told that in two weeks you would be blind.  See the spectrum of hues and shades, the patches of light, of reflection, of shadow.  See the magnificent complexity of it all, the precision of its design—all purposeful, all pleasing.

Let it pour into you like warm honey.  Taste its sweetness.  Feel your connection to it, for this is your home.

The small pleasures, the moments of sweetness and ease, are balm for the soul.  Make time for them, and they will bring you healing and joy.

“The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” ~William James

Oh, how we long to be appreciated!  For building a bond or strengthening one, nothing surpasses the connecting power of appreciation.  Children blossom in its light; marriages warm; friendships deepen.  Professional connections take on greater significance; neighbors become friends.

“There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread,” said Mother Teresa.  Feed someone with appreciation, and you are nourishing his or her very soul.

When you convey your genuine appreciation for someone, you’re letting her know that she’s real for you, that you have heard her, paid attention, noticed and value what she said or did or tried to do.

Appreciation recognizes the goodness in others.  It happens when something about someone touches us in a way that makes us feel uplifted and proud.  Touching our minds, it takes the shape of respect, or admiration, or esteem.  Touching our hearts, it delights us and makes us feel that we have spotted a precious treasure, and it moves us to cherish and adore something in the person who moved us in such a beautiful way.

But the true magic of appreciation is in the expression of it.  Once it’s kindled within us, it wants to leap forth.  It likes to be wrapped in notes and acts of kindness and in words.  “That was wonderful!” it cries.  “I love the way you do that.”  “You really inspired me.”  “That was amazing!”   “Gosh, I love your face in the morning.”  “Wow, you really worked hard at that!  Great job!”

It’s the giving that makes appreciation come alive, that sends it reverberating back and forth between the recipient and giver in an interplay of deepening recognition and meaning.  It’s the dance of human connection, the weaver and restorer of relationships.  It’s the sharing of the bread that feeds our souls.

Withdrawing from the busy world, he claims twenty minutes as his own.   He settles himself comfortably into his chair, closes his eyes and inhales a full volume of air.

As he exhales in a long, luxurious sigh, he feels all the tension leave his body.  Again he breathes in deeply.  Again, he exhales and feels every muscle in his body softening, as if he were weightless and floating on air.

After the third deep, relaxing breath, he lets his breathing find its own rhythm, watching it flow of its own accord.

He feels his body expand with every in-breath as the cool, fresh air enters him.  “Wellness,” he whispers silently to himself, imagining he is breathing in a divine elixir that brings his mind and body perfect health.

As he watches his breath flow from him, he silently whispers, “Peace.” It is his offering to the world and he gives it with sincerity and love.

His mind grows as still as a woodland creek on a windless August afternoon.  “Wellness,” he breathes; “Peace.”  Thoughts come and go, like leaves floating on water.  The mind will do what the mind will do.  He notices them, but their sound is muffled and seems to come from far away.

Sometimes one will capture his interest and he’ll ride with it for awhile, captivated by its intricate designs.  But then he will notice that he’s thinking, and gently let the thought go as he returns his attention to his breathing.  “Wellness,” he breathes; “Peace.”

He doesn’t think about it, but he’s aware that he has entered another dimension of consciousness, a kind of quiet communion with the transcendent intelligence within and behind the manifest world.   It’s nothing he could describe in words, but it feels wholly loving, wholly powerful, both intimate and immense.  The peace of it is dynamic; its silence is the music of the spheres.  He has no desire to understand or define it.  He simply sinks into it and allows it to fill his being.

After twenty or so minutes have passed, his phone’s alarm softly vibrates.  He takes a long, deep breath and begins to count slowly from one to five.  “Returning now,” he tells himself as his count reaches three.  “Feeling good, feeling great, feeling better than before.”

At the count of five, he opens his eyes.  The room is clear and bright and has an aura of beauty about it.  He stands, feeling awake, refreshed and at ease.

As he returns to his day, his stride has a renewed lift to it; his face wears a slight glow and an easy, peaceful smile.  He’s centered, integrated, confident and ready.  All in exchange for 20 minutes apart.

July rides into memory trailing scarlet bands of flame.  A whisper of starlight, a turn of the globe, and in will tiptoe August, her arms full of crickets and midsummer dreams.

Midnight turns to morning, days to weeks, months to years.  And before you know it, the seasons have swept a half a lifetime away.

Maybe that’s why we invented names for the days and months, why we number our years: to remind us of  how swiftly they pass.

They’re good times, these moments of transition, to write your thanks on what’s passing, to proclaim your intentions for the time to come so that you may use the swiftly flowing hours wisely and well.  Transitions let you pause and consider that time is your greatest gift, the tablet on which you write your experiences, the keeper of your memories, the giver of hope for the fulfillment of your dreams.

Transitions have the power to kindle your awareness of your mortality, of the value of each breath you take, of the importance of your choices and of your freedom to make them.  This is your one life, they say; create it as you will.

August is dawning.  What will you write across her skies?

Envision yourself being your best.

Name your primary roles in life, however you happen to see them:  partner, parent, student, salesman, accountant, business owner, seeker of truth.  Now imagine you had perfected that role, become the very best at it that you could ever be. Picture yourself as the best parent, the best partner, running the most successful business, enlightened.

Wrap the image in light.  Make it big in your mind, and radiant.

Stare at it for awhile.  Watch it move through its day.  See how it moves, what it does, how it walks, how it interacts with others.

Imagine how it feels.  Pretend you feel that way: confident, at peace, aware, responsive, at ease.

Now imagine what you’re seeing is a true image of yourself a little distance down the road.  Then see the road, bathed in light, leading right back to where you are right now, and connecting to your heart.

Ask yourself what one thing you could do to advance yourself farther down that road.  Ask yourself what one thing you could stop doing to make the journey smoother, surer.

Repeat.

“Make believe.”   Check out its definition at dictionary.com and you’ll see that when you use it as a noun, it means “pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; feigning; sham.” And when you use it as an adjective, it means “pretended; feigned; imaginary; made-up; unreal.”

Well, that’s pretty much what I learned growing up.  Imagination, the capacity to make believe, is a function designed for our amusement, a kind of built-in toy.  It is great fun to imagine.

Yet if you read about the word “make,” the definitions say:

“to bring into existence by shaping or changing material;” and “to produce; cause to exist or happen; bring about.”

(Hmmmm.  Sounds like some kind of alchemy to me.  I think we have a clue here.)

Leaping over to “believe,” we find “to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.”

So if you’re doing make believe, you’re causing something to exist or happen and you have confidence in the truth and reality of it.   And what was it that Napoleon Hill said?  “What your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”  That’s some pretty heady stuff!

I say grab your big shiny “What If” hook and go fishing in the Cosmic Soup of Possibilities.  There’s no telling what you might find.  Imagine!

Remember the Land of Let’s Pretend that you visited as a child?  All you had to do was turn to your imagination and it would whisk you away to any world at all.

You could be a rock star, a cowboy, a princess, a lion.  You could fly through space or gallop across the desert on the bare back of your mighty steed. The stories were endless and oh so very real.  And your friends would be there with you, playing right along.

What if you visited Let’s Pretend again?  What if you dreamed a magical tomorrow, set a couple, three years in the future?  What if you painted it with all your fondest dreams and saw them in three dimensions, in living color with a state-of-the-art soundtrack to boot?

Imagine!  You had put all your best talents to work, had played your hardest at keeping your goals in mind.  Opportunities, resources, ideas and connections had materialized like magic, as if invisible hands were guiding you on your way.

And now, there you were, in just the place you wanted to be, confident and serene, doing the things you most wanted to do, surrounded by people who made your heart sing.  What would it look like?  How would it feel?  Can you see it?  Can you imagine?  Do you have the audacity to dream such a dream?

As today unfolds before you, open your heart to all it holds. Anticipate it with joy; drink it in fully as the moments flow past. Then, as it comes to a close, savor the beauty and richness of all it held, for each day is one of a kind, unique in all eternity.

For you, it spread its gifts – its lessons, its pleasures, its challenges and blessings.   And each was custom tailored to reflect to you who you are.

Embrace this day, and draw it into your heart with love.  Send those who played their parts in it your gratitude and well-wishes, for they were messengers sent to you to bring meaning to the day, to reflect your joy, to illuminate your shadows, to draw you more fully into the great feast of being.

See the treasures that were set so plainly before you and let your heart be filled with gladness and with thanks.