This is How Positive Change Happens…
Ingredients for Happiness
I think I’ll go out on a limb and make the sweeping generalization that basically all humans want to be happy. And, it seems that there’s also quite a bit of confusion about what happiness really is and how to actually experience it. Sometimes we get confused because we think certain experiences will bring us happiness but they actually don’t. We experience fleeting pleasure or excitement, but not the deep and more sustaining happiness we were hoping for.
When I was on a mindfulness meditation retreat, the topic of happiness was explored in depth. The teacher, a Buddhist nun, described how to experience happiness. The way she described it was entirely new to me and it was so helpful. She broke it down for us and by doing so, she de-mystified it and made it much more accessible. Here’s the secret recipe she shared: If you want to experience happiness, focus on developing these qualities in your thinking, feeling, and action:
- Gratitude
- Letting go
- Compassion, towards oneself and others
To me, this teaching is gold. I think about as if I had a desire to make a really great cake. If I don’t know what the necessary ingredients are, I can’t make that really great cake. Once, I know what the ingredients are, then, voila!
I now see being happy as a very intentional creation. It’s not going to just magically happen. When I want to increase my feeling of happiness, I focus on practicing gratitude, letting go, or compassion. And it works. Ever since I heard that teaching, I feel I have a more direct method to follow and I am forever grateful for that. So, if you didn’t already know about the ingredients of happiness, now you do. I wish you lots of happiness.
Individual Counselling | Happiness
