It’s calm and peaceful right now. The world tends to be like that when it’s early enough. Soon the hustle will begin, another day full of things to do, trying to get ahead, and worrying about falling behind.
I looked at my bed when I got up this morning. I spend enough time in it, almost one-third of my life. A little less because I don’t often sleep eight hours, but close enough. One-third. That’s a lot!
If one-third of life is spent in slumber, that leaves two-thirds of the day to be awake and do things. It seems like a lot of time but then the day begins and it really isn’t. Work takes up another third of the day minimum, because getting ready for work and getting to work adds to the overall total.
Then there are errands to run, like grocery shopping and other things. That takes up time too, and soon the days all run into each other and time seems to be flying by.
Is that all there is?
As I was looking at my bed, I began to think about things differently. Instead of worrying about everything I needed to do, I thought about everything I don’t want to do anymore.
I don’t want to worry. It’s such a waste of energy and time. When I think about things, I want to tell myself good stories instead of bad ones. They are all stories after all. I have no idea what the next minute will bring so I may as well anticipate the best.
I might not even get back to my bed tonight. Tomorrow isn’t a guarantee so I want to live today like it matters. That shouldn’t be so difficult, because why wouldn’t it matter?
Everything I do and think now has an impact on what the future will look like for me. Only there is no future, there is only now. So, by having good thoughts now, I am living a life that is enjoyable. Doesn’t that make sense?
Needing an event to happen or needing to get something and not being able to be happy until that occurs is wasteful. Things will come and go, as will people. Needing them to be in my life ensures that my happiness stays external to me, and it doesn’t need to be that way.
The power to be happy can’t be on the outside. I could get everything I think I need and want and still be miserable. There will be a new thing or experience that I must have, and my happiness will continue to be a goal that is attached to objects or experiences.
Seems a bit insane really.
Before I crawl back into my bed tonight, I am going to spend the day in a state of happiness. Things will happen outside of my control that will threaten the peacefulness that I feel, but they don’t need to penetrate my inner sanctuary.
What other people think and say and do has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them. I can choose which other energies I surround myself with, and nothing that is unpleasant has to be in my life. I can always process experiences in a way that feels good.
The ultimate goal, at the bottom of all other goals, is to feel happiness or contentment. That is something that is completely within my control and is not dependent on anything else. It is accessible to me at all times and is influenced only by the stories I tell myself in every moment.
If happiness is what I already am, then there is nothing I need to do today to get it. I can move through life and enjoy all of the different experiences that come and go, and by not trying to control them I can choose which ones I like and move away from the ones that I don’t.
When I get back into bed tonight, I am going to remember everything that I did and said that kept me centred in my happiness, and then I will go to sleep.
When I get up again, it will be another opportunity to dwell in ecstasy and bliss. What a wonderful way to live.