TWO TYPES OF HAPPINESS

I often say that the point of all this work is to be happy and to enjoy life. But as I look around the Dream of the Planet, I see two types of happiness: real and illusory.

Real happiness is based on seeing the truth, and it occurs every time you accept the world as it is in this very moment. Illusory happiness is when you surround yourself with stories that are not true, then expend all your energy defending them to survive.

It’s a huge difference, because if there’s a story that needs defending, then you need to impose your will to enforce it. In other words, you need the people around you to believe it, too. Any time you’re in a position of trying to exert your will onto someone else, you’re in a fearful place.

Happiness based on truth is a life without irrational fear. You are happy to share with others, but you do not feel the need to domesticate them to your own point of view. You feel secure and confident, and at peace.

Practice

Things in the exterior world may crumble to the ground at any moment; this includes any stories. But when your faith is laid in your center, any exterior change does not affect the aware presence that you are. Your happiness is true. Remembering this gives you the ability to distinguish truth form illusion.

Living a Life of Awareness

~ Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.