With The Right Understanding, Being Happy Here And Now Is Child's Play!


How to be happy here and now? The best person to ask would be a kid. They probably wouldn't be able to answer the question though, having never thought about it. And therein lies the secret. They are simply absorbed in the present moment and not thinking about much at all.

As adults, however, we are so occupied with incessant thinking that we simply don't notice the joy and happiness which is always there inside us.We are continually distracted by our thinking habit.

Happiness never leaves us.... we leave happiness!



I remember being in the park with my daughter when she was about three years old. She was fascinated and absorbed by every little detail around her ...the bug on the leaf, the airplane passing by overhead, the flowers, the dog fetching the stick.


I, on the other hand, hadn't even noticed we were in a park, being lost in thought. Kids are happy here and now. Adults miss the ever present happiness, which is our true nature, through absorption in thought.

My day used to go something like this. During breakfast my mind was at work thinking about the meeting ahead. I would then get in the car and arrive at work without being aware of the drive. The journey was spent thinking about this and that. I would step into the office but my mind was already thinking about the weekend. Familiar?

Research shows that the average adult has around 100,000 thoughts per day. Incredible, isn't it! This is what the Buddhists call monkey mind. That works out at around 1 1/2 thoughts per second! No wonder we are so rarely present in the moment.

Our thoughts constantly pull us away from this moment into the past or the future.... but you can only be happy here and now. And you can only be here and now when you are not thinking. Simple , isn't it.

girl happy here and now The psychologist Abraham Maslow coined the expression Peak Experience.

Can you recall the best experience of your life? Maybe the birth of a child ...or a spectacular sunset.

During these experiences, there is a sense of connection, wonder, oneness with everything and joy bubbling up from within ... a feeling of perfect peace and contentment.

This is a universal experience which everyone has had and is the experience of your natural state.

Can you imagine living each moment of your life in this way?

I would say that this is how life is actually meant to be lived... as a magical adventure filled with wonder.

It is my own experience that this is not only possible, but far simpler to achieve than you may imagine.

Through understanding how peak experiences arise, you can learn the secret of how to be happy here and now. Exciting stuff, isn't it!

During experiences of intense awe or wonder, the mind is temporarily stunned into silence. For a moment , there is a gap and in the absence of thinking, our true nature reveals itself. You already are all of those qualities you seek. You just ned to be still enough (ie free of thought) to experience it.

Through regular meditation or practicing mindfulness your relationship with the mind and with thought naturally and effortlessly changes, allowing more of who you really are to shine through.

I would strongly recommend the Ishayas Ascension meditation as a powerful tool for learning to be happy here and now.

For more information visit www.thebrightpath.com


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