Seeking Happiness? Try JOY instead, and travel inwards.

I have always asserted that as long as my action makes me happy and does not harm anyone, it is good enough for me. In fact it has been the guiding principal for almost all of my decisions. I have always been seeking things that make me happy. Until now that is.

The very thing that causes me to be happy will ultimately bring me unhappiness. A life partner may bring me immeasurable happiness and pleasures but will also lead me to untold disappointments and unhappiness. Love can wither and die. Unhappiness takes over, to put it mildly.

Moreover, happiness is caused by external factors. It is dependent on something to happen or not to happen. That I think is too big a gamble for me. I don’t want to be held ransom by that. I want something more lasting and deeper than fleeting happiness that will ultimately cause me unhappiness.

Eckhart Tolle played a major role in shaping my thoughts on this issue. Happiness is not the ultimate goal. JOY is. My definition of JOY is when you have established a deep connection with GOD and LIFE (they are one and the same), and found the quiet, peaceful space within. So the journey inwards is the key. It is the knowing that whatever happens, I am still intact at the very core of which I am i.e. my soul.

I want what LIFE wants. This is the ultimate surrender and acceptance that I have adopted as my mantra. However, I will be lying if I were to say that this is easy. It is anything but. I struggle with it daily but the good news is that it gets better with each passing day. Sure there will be bad days, they will soon pass. But my core, my soul will remains intact, only my EGO would have been bruised or had taken a beating.

My EGO is not me. My job is not me. My wealth is not me. My physical appearance is not me. My forms are not me! My unhappiness is caused by my attachment to forms which only serves to strengthen the ego. So when so called negative events occur, my EGO is threatened. I may have lost my wealth, youth or no longer valued by certain quarters. EGO will have a hard time adjusting to this new reality but my very core remains intact. It will still be here when I am no longer housed in this current form (body). So this is how I will remind myself when ‘negative’ event strikes: My fortunes may change but not my core, my soul. I am still here, still the same soul that exists before the ‘negative’ and will still be here when the ‘negative’ passes over. Events are fleeting but I am eternal.

Happiness brings Unhappiness. Experience JOY, travel inwards.