happiness

"Don't seek happiness. If you seek it, you won't find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness. Happiness is ever elusive, but freedom from unhappiness is attainable now, by facing what is rather than making up stories about it. Unhappiness covers up your natural state of well-being and inner peace, the source of true happiness." - Eckhart Tolle


We, as Americans, spend a enormous amount of time and even more money seeking happiness. How often do we actually find it when the pursuit of it consumes us? Hardly ever. If at all. Don't we more often than not find a glimmer of happiness in a smile from a complete stranger, bumping into an old friend, a sunset, a cool breeze drenched with the scent of freshly cut grass? Well I sure think so.

A church I once attended had an overused slogan that they threw into scads of sermons and motivational talks. "Let go and let God." The first time I heard it I'm sure it hit home. Maybe I was in the middle of some painful experience and at the time it made perfect sense. I don't like it so much anymore. But there's a part of it that hits on a much deeper issue than I think the creators of that phrase even realized. Those in religious and spiritual circles need to let go of so much. Too often I think we're seeking perfection, a sense of higher moral integrity than others. But if we spend too much time trying to attain it we stop loving. Stop loving God, stop loving people and even ourselves. How can we ever become ourselves?

Just let go.