A Steppingstone to Happiness
If I manage to get that promotion… When we buy a new house… When I get my first car… If I didn’t need to work all this overtime… If only the dog didn’t die… When I get over this illness…
Do any of these expressions sound familiar?
They are all different examples of how humans place their focus on either material possessions, events in the past or future, or circumstances that they cannot control; as being a source of, or a blocker to, happiness.
The logic driving this is pretty widely understood and accepted throughout society:
Good things = Happy
Bad things = Sad
It is pretty simple logic and a set of rules that most humans choose to live their life by.
There is however and intrinsic flaw to this logic.
Most people have heard the expression “you can’t have the sweet without the sour”. The reality behind this saying is one of co-dependence; the existence of both phenomenon is mutually necessary.
It is not possible to expect a life time only filled with good. There will be bad too. This is simply the nature of life and living.
The stepping stone to lasting happiness is acceptance.
Acceptance of the both good and the bad, equally.
Consider the yin (dark) and the yang (light).
Together, their existence creates the whole.
Where is happiness to be found?
The pathway of happiness traverses the line separating the yin and the yang. When we are able to accept the existence of both forces, this allows us to establish the balance needed to walk that fine line.
When we learn to walk this path, we discover that while to the left we have light, and to the right we have dark, vertically there is no limit to the height that we can ascend to.
Through the practice of acceptance we can discover never ending happiness.
Enjoy.