So Many Points! And Only On Page 22!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

I love this time of year.  Lots of celebrating, and fireworks, and cookouts, and heatwaves..... ummm, well maybe not the heatwave so much. 

But I'm also excited about how much I've gotten out of "The Art of Happiness" so far.  Now I will state that I did get the tenth anniversary version of it, so I did read the prefaces and introductions.  I'm a very thorough reader.  So, even though I'm only on page 22 of this 315 page book, I've read more like forty pages.

As I've been reading the book, I've also been writing down little quotes or points to make it that more memorable.  I find that if I just read through a book, I'll remember certain sections, but for things to truly stick in my mind I find it's better to write some key phrase or sentence about a section.  So any point that matters I write it down.  I know that's technically taking notes, but I don't want to look at it that way.  It seems too much like high school.  When you couldn't highlight your books, but you could draw all over the book cover you made out of a grocery store paper bag.  I wonder if kids still do this anymore.  Probably use IPads now. 

But here are some of the points I have come across that resonated with me and I will probably use for one of my first activities I'll start next week.

The very first thing the Dalai Lama states is that he believes that the purpose of life is to seek happiness. 

I love that.  Many of us try to figure out what to do with our lives.  And to think about it so simply, that our purpose is to seek happiness, it just makes you feel better about life.  I mean who doesn't want to pursue what makes them happy.  The funny thing was that when I first read this I kind of had the reaction of "How selfish!"  And that caught me by surprise.  Then, as I was reading on, I came to realize that, especially in the Western world view, that pursuing happiness isn't deemed practical or smart, but ignorant and selfish.  Well if everyone tried to be happy, wouldn't other people be unhappy?  Though it might seem silly to some, that's what I thought.  Like that there was a limit on the happiness in the world.  Or that for some people to be happy they would have to make other people unhappy.  But that kind of leads me to what the Dalai Lama stated next.

"If you want others to be happy practice compassion; and if you want yourself to be happy practice compassion."

So, when I read that, my whole argument was blown out of the water.  And then, once he explained why, it set off a light bulb in my head.  Well not literally, but figuratively.  Like the cartoons. By making others happy you, in turn, become happy and creates happiness in your life.  So you make someone else feel good, which make you feel good about  yourself.  And, by seeing others being compassionate to each other or to you, it makes you feel happy about life in general.  It's so easy to emphasize the negatives in life, to gripe about what is going on at work, at home, in relationships, with the economy, with religion, with the world.  So to have the simple thought, that by being compassionate to others, and also compassionate with yourself, you become a happier person.

I feel that we all like to complain about things.  I know I do when I'm angry or stressed out.  It feels like a release.  But in the end it doesn't make me feel any better.  And that brings me to another point made in the book.

"Happiness is determined more by one's state of mind than by external events."

More meaning that happiness is not derived from what you get or what you do, but more by how you perceive the situations you are in, and how you react to them.  It doesn't mean that bad things will never happen to you.  That you will never be angry or sad about something ever again.  That you won't face challenges in your life.  But it makes all the difference of how you perceive those events and interactions.

As the Dalai Lama says, it does make you have to train your mind.  I know I do spend time criticizing myself on looks, on habits, on life choices.  I know I can have negative views about harsh things in this world.  So I know that I need to train my mind to seek more compassion.  To see more positives in the world.  But to also realize that even when life gets you down, there are still wonderful miracles happening everyday.

Wow, if this is all I got out of twenty-two pages, wait till I get to page 315!