Enjoying the Day!

Enjoying the Day!

©Allen Merritt (2015)

A week ago I commuted to Los Angeles and just before getting on the entrance ramp to the freeway I noticed a woman wearing a backpack, walking with haste and purpose to the other side of the roadway. She appeared to be talking to herself. Correction: she was yelling and screaming. The light was red and all I could do was watch the event play out. I was captivated by this. I observed the woman walk up to some landscaped dirt mound and start kicking it. Then she spun around picked up a few rocks and threw it at the mound before facing my car and bending over in more fits of screaming. This person was not experiencing a joyful day. I will never know what was going on, but it caused me think about the reality of pursing happiness.

Every day a barrage of events come flying at us. It’s out of control sometimes, isn’t it? By the end of one day you are in a quandary as to how you are going to make it through the next, but when Friday comes (Whoo-hoo!) it’s party time! When party time turns into constant escapism, is that really a “good” time? You may look happy, joyful and full of life on the outside, but what is going on internally? Enjoying the day every day means discovering your own vitality and value in each moment despite what anyone else is saying or doing.

With that in mind, I want to talk about how to make a better day on purpose. I know people who live their lives in misery. They are negative, conspiracy theory oriented, with nothing good to say and as a result do not appear to be happy in their circumstance…ever. I believe that living a happy and healthy life is as much purposeful as it is by luck or chance. Other people contribute to that happiness, but do not necessarily make us happy. It’s a choice. When people talk about happiness, finding peace, being joyful, what are they really talking about and what does that mean in the face of adversity? Let’s break it down a bit.

Happiness: We live in a country that documents our freedom to pursue happiness. It does not guarantee it, but allows us the right. This means we have to choose it, work on it and create that happiness. We also need to be responsible in how we go about creating said happiness. When your happiness is at the expense of others, is that really happiness? If your happiness is destructive to you, your loved ones and others, is that truly happiness? When true happiness is discovered from within and illuminates outward, other people benefit, too. Happiness is contagious.

Peace: In my opinion, achieving a sense of peace results from working on remaining calm, cool and collected while also addressing realism balanced with acceptance and understanding. It is a conscious effort on our part to pave a pathway to contentment. When you are comfortable right where you are, you have a stronger sense of yourself and are more settled in the idea of being comfortable in your own skin. Peace lies in the actions for which you use to cultivate it.

Joy: When I think of joy I think of a combination of peace and happiness fully expressed outwardly in physicality such as smiling, laughing and slightly bubbling over with such qualities mentioned above. We feel radiant and glowing and illuminated. Just like the song says, “You’re never fully dressed without a smile.” Joy is an outward experience of your level of happiness and peace.

One of my favorite authors (Thich Nhat Hanh) writes often on these subjects and it’s clear that he understands and simply reveals how happiness, peace and joy are elements in our lives that we work on and constantly create. Not often are they provided to us on a silver platter. These little gems are cultivated within us. Maybe part of achieving them revolves around the idea of not taking everything too seriously and being mindful of all things. Another easier said than done philosophy, but the more effort we put into trying, the easier it gets. It takes practice. And Thich Nhat Hanh addresses this important fact within the first five minutes of his meditation entitled Awakening to Your Joy found on YouTube.¹ I highly recommend watching the video if you have time. It’s about 47 minutes long. Read his books to gain better insight to finding your happy, peaceful and joyful life.

Finally, while there is so much more to say on the subject, when you incorporate happiness, peacefulness and joyfulness as part of a total equation the solution sums up these elements to form many wonders of life. These are available to us right here and now (the present moment), which is the only thing we can ever be sure of.

Here’s a final question. Would you rather find a little enjoyment now or wait until you think you’ve found a reason for it?

My answer?

Enjoy the day now. Why wait?

Cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0FWFp3WmZY¹ (Viewed 6/21/2015)


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