High on Happiness

Posts Tagged ‘Relaxation’

As I walked along the creek’s bank this afternoon, I thought about all the fishermen who had stood there at the start of trout season last month, braving a cold rainy day, just for the fun of it.

The first day of trout season is a big deal in these parts.  The local parks overflow with tents and the fragrance of grilled foods, and even if they have to bundle up in winter coats, families turn out in droves just to launch the season.

Now that the hubbub has died, fishing turns into a much more peaceful pleasure, a chance to get away into the solace of nature, to stand in hip boots in the stream, watching the water flow by, thinking your thoughts, relaxing.

We need that.   We need the pastimes and easy pleasures that let us unwind and get into a leisurely flow.  We need the spaces they provide for our tensions to untangle, for the dreamy free flow of thoughts, away from our routines and obligations.  They’re like mini-vacations for the mind and spirit, refreshing and restoring us and making us whole.

I’m not talking about passive relaxation where you zone out in front of the TV.  I’m talking about engaging in an activity that you genuinely enjoy, just for its own sake.  The key word is “engaging.”   I’m talking about easy pleasures and fun: A sport, a hobby, the pursuit of an interest.

If you don’t have one, get one.  Think about the kinds of things you enjoyed doing when you were a kid, the things you fantasize about doing when you retire.  Browse through the magazine section at a local bookstore and see what grabs your attention.

If you know exactly what your favorite pastime or pleasure is, make time for it.  Build hours for it into your week and keep these hours as a sacred trust.  You owe it to yourself.  It will make you a richer, happier, healthier you.

The snow was just beginning as I drove home from work.  But it has been falling heavily ever since, and by this time tomorrow, I’m told, it will be knee-deep.

I couldn’t help but notice the glee that everyone was feeling in anticipation of the storm.  It’s coming on a weekend, when most of us can hole up and enjoy its beauty from the warmth and safety of our homes.

We have the perfect excuse to do nothing, a gift from nature, who understands that our tendency is to do-do-do until we drop.  (We shouldn’t need an excuse, of course.  And our tendency for non-stop action is one that could benefit from some reflection.  But that’s a tale for another time.) So now, along comes Mother Nature with her soft, shimmering blanket, to slow us down and give us time to rest.

Happiness likes rest.  When we’re relaxed and refreshed, happiness flows so much more easily through us.  Rest heals and restores us.  It dissolves the brittleness that accumulates inside us when we get caught up in life’s hustle and bustle.  It returns us to our points of balance, and so we see with clarity again from a vantage point of truth.  And thus we know joy.