Pursuit of Happiness

OBSERVATION

Observe your thoughts but don't go anywhere with them. In other words don't jump to a conclusion too soon.

There is a 5,000 word explanation for the power of observation but the basics are to understand what our first is and what our second thought is. Our first thought is intuition and our second thought is originated from our ego. There still is a problem as our ego demands you to believe that the second thought is in fact your first.

Your first thought is an immediate flash of knowledge that arises; sometimes without you taking much notice. Do nothing but be aware that this is how it works.

QUOTE: "Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish, but wish the things that happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life." (Epictetus)

Nature has a habit of lifting our spirits - never, never underestimate this potential! Have you ever spoke to an animal of your problems? You'll never get advice, but you'll get a listening ear. Why does food and drink taste so good when you're sat by the beach? Yet strangely the same food at home never realises the same potential for happiness.

Write down during any normal day events that trigger a happy feeling. Then when that day turns sour you can look back at your journal and know what action to take that can bring back that happy feeling. It maybe that cooking or listening to the radio is good, or looking out of a specific window. You'll only really know by keeping a good journal.

CENTRE YOURSELF

Although Meditation, Yoga, Chi Kung and Aerobics for example are good tools for restfulness, they may not be right for you. One specific option for restfulness is appreciating the value of giving full attention. When you only give half attention, your other half is drifting off trying to solve some problem or drift off into a dream of fantasy.

Try using full attention as thus... Opt for some mundane job such as cleaning a brass handle on the door. Don't put a time limit on the job as that will affect the whole task. Feel the cloth and the texture, listen to the glug of the fluid as it drips onto the cloth. Feel the dampness of the cloth with your finger as you apply the solution to the brass. Watch carefully as you press and apply the right pressure to rid the brass of the grime. Listen for the squeak as the grime disappears and the true colour emerges. Clean with precision and don't leave any grime left on the door handle.

This whole process may have taken 30 minutes, the completed job is perfection personified. It would have been restful. The importance of centering yourself as thus is that your mind is given to one job and one job only. It is a connection that will take away sorrow and sadness until that full attention is lost.

Be aware also that the moment you leave the beauty of full attention the answer to any problems may arise. It is said that your mind is allowed to resolve the problems of your life if you give a particular task your full attention; anything less than full attention and your mind is being actively used to follow some day dream or other.

LISTEN AND LEARN

Listen to your teacher! Who is your teacher? It could be the next person you meet. Everyone has the potential to be your teacher.

Being happy allows you to SEE. Being negative will not allow you to see anything; it is as if you're wearing blinkers.

MAKE OPPORTUNITIES

Your first discipline in reading this book is to 'make opportunities'. How do you do this?

Be happy... Happiness is the breading ground for opportunity; you'll never get inspired by being sad or angry.

Call this discipline 'reading time' and allow 15 minutes to 30 minutes each day in doing this. Read something that is motivational. This in itself helps to trigger a happy feeling.

CAUSE and EFFECT - We all are probably aware of this psychological description. If your next action is the 'effect' then the cause is your decision to do it. For happiness you must first have the decision to be happy.

REASON

Generally we can identify why we are happy; this is because there was a reason. In deciding there was a reason we processed an analysis of the situation. Avoid such analysis, why not be happy for NO REASON?

INNER CONFLICT

The tasks that need the most effort are often those that present us with the greatest problems. Perhaps we strive for success with more 'brawn than brains' and forget our intended goal has an hidden agenda or conflict preventing the job's completion.

Strange as it may seem some people wallow in struggling! Others perhaps enjoy the struggle as they know it leads to greater prospects. Which are you?

QUOTE: "The moment you make anything into a 'problem', you define yourself as a victim." (Robert Holden)

Inner conflict is a problem that we shouldn't ignore; although in wisdom we are best submitting the problem to our subconscious to resolve, which is not too dissimilar to ignoring it. If we cannot resolve it with rational thinking then a good practice is to allow our higher mind to present the resolution.

Inner conflict is a barrier and little else will get resolved when a major battle is taking place within our mind. We must first accept that an inner conflict exists and then proceed with a practice that we know will complete the task. However as mentioned in the last paragraph, to TRUST in our higher mind cum sub-conscious mind is a good alternative to consider.

STUCK IN A RUT?

Fear, self-doubt, self-criticism and self-sabotage; all observations of a person who says they are 'stuck in a rut', but is this a true state of affairs? Well of course it is! That's why this person is in a rut.

What appears to happen in an attempt to resolve this situation is that they try and put right what has gone wrong. But you can't change history!

Let's assume for illustration purposes a boy has fallen out with his girlfriend. What tends to happen is that he wants to go back and justify his actions that lead to the break up of the relationship. He needs to deal with the past problem in the NOW. The best possible solution is to say you're SORRY.

We don't want to spend weeks and weeks trying to put right something that's happened in the past, we need to act in the NOW in a positive way which makes a promise for a brighter future.

Being 'stuck in a rut' is not so much a troubled past but being afraid of moving on. This fear is because you're trying to put right those actions in the past. Your next ten minutes on this planet are the result of what action you take NOW.

THE MIRROR EFFECT

The principle we call the 'mirror effect' has several permutations, one of which is; 'you only get out of life what you put in'. The simplicity but immense power this principle has, will consistently impress you.

Imagine this scenario... It is 9am one evening and you realize you'll need some milk and bread for breakfast. The decision is to visit your local late opening supermarket. You quickly glance in the mirror and say, "It'll have to do!" You rush off to the supermarket and the odds are that you'll not talk to anyone other than the person at the till and that would only be a grunted, "Thanks." This is the mirror effect - if you look unapproachable, nobody will approach you.

Check the mirror before you leave the house; and smile! That image will be left as a vision of yourself and subsequently what others see of you.