The art of happiness

Who wants to be happy?

We all do ... well most of us ..... except for those who are happy in their own misery.

In the Dalai Lama’s book, “The Art of Happiness”, he begins by saying that we are all human beings consisting of one body and one mind.  Often we search and search for meanings to our own behaviour, trying to understand the “why” of our choices, yet finding ourselves going in circles.

He continues by saying happiness is determined by a person’s state of mind and by our outlook.  It is a function of how we perceive our situation, how satisfied we are with what we have. Unfortunately our perception and level of satisfaction is strongly influenced by our tendency to compare ourselves to others. Making comparisons can work positively when we compare ourselves to those less fortunate than us however when comparing to what we don’t have, this can be detrimental to our own growth.

One exercise that has proven to be successful, is to complete the following statement five times;

“I’m glad I’m not a …..” as opposed to saying “I wish I were......”

Follow this by asking yourself “what” is it you are doing? As opposed to “Why” are you doing it?

“What” questions move you forward in understanding what is happening, where as “Why” questions take you backwards to all the excuses that are stopping you.

The Dalai lama says the first step in seeking happiness is LEARNING

“If you maintain a feeling of compassion, loving kindness, then something automatically opens your inner door.  Through that you can communicate much more easily with other people.  And that feeling of warmth creates a kind of openness.  You’ll find that all human beings are just like you, so you’ll be able to relate to them more easily”  (pg. 40 Dalai Lama)

This may  be referred to as Buddha Nature.

Positive changes begin with managing our own thoughts and can be very simple, such as setting an intent for the day by saying, “I am going to utilise this day in a positive way”.  Later that day, check what you have done by saying, “Did I do all that I had planned?”  If your answer is `yes’, then you should be happy, if `no’ analyse what you allowed to prevent you and reset your goals ensuring they are realistic, specific and measurable

Simply making a goal to build a happier life and consciously making decisions to achieve that goal can profoundly change our lives.

Ask yourself better questions and open your mind to a happier, more fulfilled life.

Daniela