One or two paragraphs -- "Happiness is destination not the journey of life"
Answers
Past .. Present .. Future
Imagine yourself,
standing with your left foot anchored, behind you firmly attached to something in the past ...
and your right foot is stretched out in front of you, reaching for some hoped for future so that you can get away from that past ..
Between your feet is where you are, right now, the present.
How much contact have you with the present ..
apart from what might be issuing from your body's elimination organs ..
Happiness is now .. where you are, in this moment .. doing what you are doing without worrying about the outcome .. or trying to get away from something.
Are you trying to convince yourself that life will be better after you complete some project .. or that doing this course will make you happy or give you a purpose? Will getting this therapy make you happy?
Patterns have a way of repeating themselves .. and life is a series of patterns!
Living in the moment is not waiting until after you get married, or have one baby .. then another.
One day you'll be frustrated that the kids aren't old enough (but you'll be more content when they are). Then there will be the teenage years to deal with .. do you remember yours? Maybe you'll find happiness when they are out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our partner gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges and changes.
Who promised you that, sometime in the future, life will begin to begin - real life. There always seems to be some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.
Life embraces these obstacles, envelopes them, flows around them, under them and through them.
There is no way to happiness.
Happiness is the experience of living Life, fully in this moment and exploring all that this moment has to offer.
So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time... you .. your Self ..
(and, remember that you (either consciously or unconsciously) attracted this moment to you for your highest evolution and growth)
Happiness is a journey - not a destination. Each journey starts with a single step .. and continues one step at a time .
How you handle this moment .. and the next .. and the next ..
will determine whether you will experience happiness today, tomorrow ..
or never
Are you waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've got drunk, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again ...
You can experience happiness when you decide that, in this moment, there is no better time to be happy ..
and that means unconditionally accepting your self in this moment, just the way you are .. only then can this moment give way to a brand new moment and a brand new experience .. of happiness
Happiness is the journey, not a destination.