Is there such a thing as everlasting happiness or is it something that people chase incessantly throughout life? Is that the joy of life… to steadily pursue the next joy. I used to think that happiness could be attained, but now I wonder if maybe happiness is ever elusive, something that is caught in moments and then released so that we can play the game of chase all over again. I can think of several games from my childhood that seem to point to this as truth. Hide and seek… happiness hides and we go looking for it. Marco Polo… we’re wandering around with our eyes closed seeking by senses and feeling. Tag… seeing that happiness running before you as you sprint to tag it.
Maybe we can’t be eternally happy and that the goal should be everlasting peace. Maybe happiness is too high of a bar to set for oneself. Maybe thinking that one day you’ll reach this everlasting happiness is a pipe dream that will forever lead to disappointment. Lately, I’ve been thinking finding peace is the answer. I’ve been doing a lot of reading in the spiritual/religious category and have started to shift into the idea, that maybe inner peace is all we can hope for.
I know I say it as though it is disappointing, but maybe that is what is most important… learning to be pliable and adapt emotionally and physically through whatever God decides to send your way. I think the Darwinian evolutionary theory had a point with the “survival of the fittest” bit, however, I would replace “fittest” with “most able to adapt.” Yoga is a great way to practice physical flexibility and stillness. I’m learning that it’s finding the still place within us that we can go to when life seems to be spinning out of control. It’s learning how to find that calm center within the middle of the storms of life. Turning inward and feeling our own God given energy flowing through our being allows us to realize that at our core, we are that energy. That no matter what happens, that energy exists. Because it exists, because we exist, we matter. In knowing this, we can find refuge from anything happening within the external world.
As an eternal optimist with high expectations bordering on idealism and perfectionism, this is somewhat disappointing, but then I realize the pressure is off in a lot of ways by training myself in this way. In learning to stay calm and be at peace with whatever is currently happening in life, I’m able to start fearing less. Knowing that I can return to my calm center, means that I can be ok with taking different actions in life knowing that I will be at peace with whatever happens. In learning to rely on this place of inner calm, I also can embrace the hard stuff that happens, seeing it with a clear mind with a level of distance between myself and whatever it may be helps to make better choices. Rather than operating from a place of “AAAAAAH What am I going to to? How am I going to function?” I’m operating in a place of, “Here is what is happening… here are my options.”
Learning how to be still is also helping me to become more in tune with the sensations in my body at any given time. At one point in life, I was so tuned out unless the tension was so bad that I felt my heart was going to beat out of my chest or just stop beating all together. I wouldn’t say I’m where I’d like to be yet, but I am starting to notice sensations as life happens… feeling an inner tension or an inner calmness depending on what is happening around me. I’m seeing when I am in my element, at peace, harmonious… and when there is something “off.” I may not always know what that “off” feeling means, how to explain it, or why I’m feeling a certain sensation, but I can acknowledge it exists and then try to follow it to the cause.
I’ve started wearing a necklace I bought myself daily. It’s a tree of life necklace with the ground as a white opal stone as the ground. This tree of life necklace is unique in that you can see the roots entering into the stone/ground. This necklace means a lot to me (here I go putting attachment on something). When I see it, I’m reminded that I’m not in control. I’m reminded that I want to be like the tree… pliable, blowing and bending in the direction that God calls me to go. It also reminds me to plant myself in “good (pure/white) soil” by the stream that is God, as the Bible refers to. I’m cognizant about what I let into my awareness, knowing that allowing negative in, will produce negative. I also see this as planting myself firmly in my faith in God… growing deep roots in my faith so that when the storm arises, I will not be shaken. The tree also reminds me that while trees live a long time, the leaves have their season… they arrive in Spring, last a Summer, are in their full glory in Fall, then die and fall in the Winter… onto a new purpose in the soil. We too, are like the leaves… we go through our seasons of life… some where we are bright and colorful in all our glory… some where we are buds simply youthful and growing… some where we are withering and dying… As I look around at the trees, they are teaching me so much about life. Wearing this necklace reminds me to come back to the roots of peace when I start feeling disturbed. It is a talisman of sorts that restores me to calm and helps me to come back to my roots extending into God.
How do you know when you need to return to peace? What signs do you see when you need to return to center? Do you believe that happiness can be permanent? Do you have anything physical that reminds you to reset when the seas of life become turbulent? Share in the comments section or send me a message. I’d love to learn from you.