CHOOSING HAPPINESS FOR TODAY

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Life’s about the journey, not the destination.” Yet many of us are waiting for some goal to be reached, some status to be attained before we can begin enjoying our lives. We say things to ourselves like, “I will be happy when I get this job/accumulate this amount of money/have this relationship.”

There is nothing wrong with wanting to attain or achieve certain things, but if we make our happiness conditional on reaching certain destination points, our life will become a series of goals to obtain, with each one failing to deliver the promise of happiness we envisioned. Living this way means missing out on the beauty of the journey, the one that is happening right now.

Happiness can only be found in the present moment, not at some imaginary place in the future.

Practice

With awareness, notice when you attach to the idea of happiness in the future. When this happens, say to yourself, “I won’t wait for happiness. I choose to be happy now.”

Living a Life of Awareness

~ Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.