Happiness Now!

Happiness Now!

From time-to-time, I reflect upon the dilemma of the desire to possess something. And when I get what I want and without even enjoying it, I have moved onto the next desire.  Do you feel that about yourself sometimes?

This reflection captures one of the most persistent paradoxes of the human experience. It is the classic "hedonic treadmill": the realization that our suffering often stems not from the object of our desire, but from the grip we have on the outcome until we get it.

In Anna Karenina and The Great Gatsby, the tragedy is that the protagonists succeed in possessing what they pined for, only to realize that the "thing of their desire" was just a projection. They were in love with the desire to possess. When that thirst was gone, the object of their desire became mundane.

The Eastern spiritual teachings advocate that the true renunciation isn't about giving up the things of the world; it’s about giving up the idea that those things can somehow provide permanent happiness.

William Blake’s Poem

“He who binds to himself a joy

Does the winged life destroy

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

Lives in eternity’s sunrise”

This poem is the perfect antidote to clinging. When we try to "bind" a joy, we kill the very thing that made it vital. He uses the paradox of holding onto the butterfly so hard that we kill it. But we have the freedom to kiss it as it flies away and that is equivalent to eternity’s sunrise.

To "kiss the joy as it flies" means:

• Fully Tasting the Moment: Being present enough to feel the texture of the success or the warmth of the connection.

• Open Palms: Recognizing that the moment is a visitor, not a resident.

Living in the "eternity sunrise" doesn't mean you stop wanting or stop achieving. It means shifting your relationship with the "desire."

Instead of saying, "I will be happy when..." the shift becomes, "I am doing this now, and I will appreciate the result for exactly as long as it lasts."  

Clinging to desires is a permanent contract to be unhappy.

#Happiness #Desire #Joy