Here is something to learn from our children: BE HAPPY NOW.
You might have noticed that children don’t typically spend their days worrying about the past or dreading the future (barring the occasional upcoming algebra test.) Children, far more successfully than most adults, live in the present.
This is wisdom, pure and simple.
As many great thinkers have taught us, now is all that we have. This is truly liberating. If we can only make ourselves happy now, this very moment, then we can always be happy.
Takes a little practice, though.
With a thousand thoughts running through our minds at any given moment, being present – living in the now – is remarkably hard to accomplish sometimes. Here is what I do, when my internal chatter and frenzied lifestyle get in the way of my happiness.
1. Ground yourself firmly in the present.
Take note of what is going on around you right now. Pretend you’re a reporter, covering the five W’s: Who, what, where, when and why. Speak out loud (the better to get your own attention!)
“My name is Meg Brown. It is Thursday, June 11, 2009. I am sitting on the couch in my family room, typing on my laptop. I am trying to complete this article today, because I haven’t posted anything on my blog since Monday and I want my readers to find new content from me today.”
2. Acknowledge how you are feeling right now.
Shift your attention from your surrounding environment to your own body. Go inside, but keep talking out loud. Name your feelings – physical, mental and emotional.
“My sinuses are a little achy today. I am so tired of this hay fever. My neck is feeling stiff and achy. Why do I always hunch over my computer like this?? I am feeling overwhelmed right now. There are more things on my To-Do list than I can realistically accomplish in a week. The boys keep fighting with each other and I am getting cranky. I really just want to go to bed and get some sleep. I am soooooooo tired!”
3. What would make you happy (or happier) in this moment?
What could you choose to do right this moment, to make yourself deliriously happy?
Seriously. Could you abandon the dishwasher (or the laptop), stride out into the sunshine, roll down a grassy hillside and shout at the top of your lungs?
Pick up your son, swing him around until you’re both dizzy, then smother him in kisses?
Stick your finger in a tub of chocolate frosting and lick it off?
Take a bubble bath?
If you are struggling, ask for help. Call it out to the Universe: “What would make me deliriously happy right now?”
Now listen. Smile. Laugh like a crazy person. Sing.
Something will come to you.
4. Make yourself happy now. Just do it.
Take the bubble bath. Dive into the frosting.
You know it is only conditioning – this belief that we must wait and suffer, to earn our tiny moments of happiness. We’ve all spent too many years collecting reasons why it’s too soon to be happy.
“First, I need to grieve my past. Then, I need to worry about the future. Wait... a moment just finished and a new one has begun. Is it time to be happy now? I’m not sure. The past is still there to be grieved and the future is still there to be worried about. Hmm. Maybe now is the only time to be happy. I’m so confused.”
Give yourself permission to be happy right now, in this moment. As with all things, it will get easier the more you practice. Develop a habit of making yourself happy.
It’s okay. You deserve it!
Now, please excuse me. There is a ten-year-old upstairs, waiting to be tickled silly.
Recommended Reading:
There are many wonderful teachers in the world today. When I need help delighting myself, I turn to the writings of Louise Hay, Esther and Jerry Hicks, Wayne Dyer, Sonia Choquette and Rhonda Byrne.
Don’t worry, be happy!
Related Posts:
Research shows that cultivating a spirit of gratitude can actually make you a happier person. Read more in A Season of Thanks and Giving.
Comments