Nature's God

Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that, "When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is happiness. But later, when we don't have a toothache, we don't treasure our non-toothache." When we are miserable, we believe we will be happy just not being miserable. Then, when we are no longer miserable, we are still not happy. Not being miserable is not enough. We believe we need something more to make us happy.

Perhaps some of us believe that having a companion will make us happy. Having a partner to bring us joy, to share with, to confide in. We are miserable until we find our true love. Then we find someone. We know that person is "the one". We bond with them, and for a while, we do find happiness. But soon we realize that wanting and having are two different realities. Along with the happiness comes the real work of building a life together. Life is not perfect. We may not be miserable, but we are not really happy. Eventually, if we are unhappy long enough, our unhappiness becomes misery, and it looks like happiness is just not being miserable. So we get ourselves out of a miserable relationship. We are no longer miserable, but neither are we happy.

In my heavy-handed story it is very easy to see that happiness is where you find it. Happiness is relative. Happiness is when we decide to be happy, and happiness is what we make out of what life hands us. Happiness is like a butterfly that flits past us, looking beautiful. If we chase it, it eludes us. If we try to grasp it, we can destroy it. But if we are patient and still and let it come to us, it will draw near and remain in our presence, allowing us to study its beauty close up. It may even alight upon our outstretched had. But sooner or later it will depart, and we are left with a choice. We can tell the world how much we appreciated the beautiful experience we enjoyed during our butterfly encounter, or we can turn inward and mourn the fact that it has moved on. And if we do turn inward and become miserable, we may miss the fact that there are more butterflies hovering nearby, and some will probably fly in our direction sometime soon. We just need to study the nature of butterflies to improve our chances that one will draw near again.

Life will have its aches and disappointments. A little suffering is indeed good for the soul, because it helps us understand that happiness can be as simple as not aching, or it can be as complex as we choose to make it. Complex and difficult are often the same thing, so we should choose wisely. We should not grasp too tightly. And we need to remember that butterflies come and go. We need to enjoy their beauty during the brief time we have to enjoy their presence. And when we find "the one", we need to keep life in perspective and allow ourselves to understand what happiness is over the long run.

This post was inspired by a tidbit from this month's Science of Mind magazine in an article entitled, "Mindful Living, the Art of Remembering to Remember."

Hmmm... I never thought of that. Makes sense though. I guess you could say I'm content. Compared to most people in the world I live like a king. I think that may be the secret. Just be content with what you have.