What is Happiness? What is My Purpose in Life?
Author: Daniel Nase
True happiness is living in the moment and loving the journey that is life. It’s choosing your own purpose by doing what you love. It’s bringing passion into everything you do, while living in the moment to gain a greater understanding of the present, the past and the future. It’s challenging ourselves to change by asking the questions that we would rather avoid then face. It’s finding beauty in the small things that only exist in the moment and providing service to awaken others inside. Happiness is not achieving a goal; it’s doing what you love and knowing the consequences of what you love are also a source of happiness. There is no greater good.
One common barrier to happiness is believing that achievements will make you happy. Achievements are shallow unless you are truly living in the moment and fully understanding that change is beautiful and expectations are an illusion that leads us to suffering. Many people skip from goal to goal hoping for their big break that will bring them happiness and they throw away all the precious moments in between. There will always be bigger goals and greater suffering if you believe that any achievement will make you happy.
Ask yourself the question; were you happier when you achieved something great or when you saw something so beautiful that it brought tears to your eyes? Were you happier when you got what you wanted or when you really took the time to connect with the person you love and the world stood still for a moment?
Relationship happiness comes from loving others by understanding and accepting them for who they are. This means thinking about the needs of others before thinking about yourself; it does not mean allowing others to cause you harm because they are unhappy.
People will not like you more for your successes; they will like you more for what you can do for them. Your spouse may be pleased that you succeed, but it will pass and the question “what are you going to do next” to get their approval might come up internally. You may even overlook what really makes you happy by living the same robotic path you take every day, and your spouse may miss the days when you first met. People who believe that achievement will bring them happiness often chase others who they believe could light the way for them. Nothing is ever good enough when you are addicted to success or believe that success will make you happy. This does not mean you have to be a hobo to be happy. It means that you do what you love and you are passionate about it enough to really focus and move people who are willing to share your vision. Living in the moment gives you a focus that is a competitive advantage in everything you do.
Only you can give yourself happiness; and only you can wake up inside and give yourself a new life.