Happiness in steps

'Happiness is found in our state of mind, not in the state of our reality'

     We are all travellers in this life. We pack our backpacks with essential things we need for the journey. What about packing in our minds the essential tools for what's to come on our paths?  After all, our minds guide us throughout the journey…This is a story about a wise man, being at the end of his journey and who speaks his wise words to a traveller who is about to start his own life journey.  

          

A very wise man, once said to a traveller who was about to commence his journey: - “Before departing young traveller, don’t forget that the traveller becomes wise, when he always keeps in mind that he is just a traveller.... that he is just passing by in the world, and that the only thing that is permanent is what is inside him”.

The wise man, knowing the traveller’s concern of what to expect on his journey, told him that there will be stepping stones on his path and that those are there to step on and gaining strength to continue.

The wise man told some truths about what he has seen, travellers who tried to deviate from their path when finding a stepping stone, becoming lost and only finding their way back at the end.

The truths the wise man told the traveller: - “During your journey, you can expect to find obstacles on your path…they are there to show your strength, capabilities that come from our thinking and attitudes…

I have seen travellers tired of being children, wishing and quickly becoming a grown up and now they would like to be children again…

Others lost their health in search of wealth and now they lose their wealth to restore their health…

Many others for going after their future, they forgot about living in the present and ended up not living the future nor even the present…

Others, live as if they will never die, and then they die as if they have never lived”.

The traveller realising that we must all understand, pack our mind with tools, before embarking on the journey, asks the wise man to give him words of wisdom to guide him before setting off. The wise man words were:

- “What we must learn is that:

·         We cannot make someone love us, instead let them love us…

·         That…Takes years to build up trust and only a few seconds to destroy it…

·         That…What we have in life is not the most valuable if not who we have…

·         There is no good in comparing to others, there is no  better or worse... just 'different'…

·         That…the wealthiest person is not the one that owns the most, if not the one that needs the least…

·         That…We should have control over our attitudes towards circumstance, otherwise attitudes will control us and how we feel and approach those stepping stones

·         That…it only takes seconds to open deep wounds in people we love, and it takes us many years to heal them…

·         We must understand, is possible for someone to love us but to not fully know how to express their feelings…

·         That…money may buy most things, but not health, love or Happiness…

·         Sometimes we may get annoyed about a stepping stone, but is it really worth making a bad memory out of something that we are just passing by from?

·         That…is not enough to be forgiven, if we cannot forgive ourselves…we are all learners in this journey, and mistakes are part of learning

·         That…we become slaves of our possessions. The heavier the load, the slower we’ll move, the less freedom we’ll have

·         That…once words are said, they cannot be unheard…take your time

·         That…we will always grow what we harvest…if we harvest need for things, we will grow emptiness, things do not satisfy us long-term, if we harvest joy in the simplest moments, we will grow a happy state of mind, and will need less to be happy…

·         That…the real happiness, is not only achieving goals, if not learning to feel satisfied with what we already achieved…

·         That…two people may be looking at the same thing, but be seeing something completely different…

·         That…who is honest with himself regardless of the stepping stones, the obstacles on his way, will go far on his journey…

'Harvesting starts' - painting by Lucia Daou

We all have the capability to change our perspectives, to change our attitudes towards all type of circumstances that present in life. We can all practise positive thinking and we can all imagine and use resources to find ways to feel joy in every step.
Our dreams come to life once we visualise ourselves living it. Our subconscious is very powerful, and if we believe we can do something, we will subconsciously make the right choices that will lead towards that dream or path in life. Our ideas become a plan and If we can imagine it, we can build it. As the wise man says, we should never forget that the present is the path and that we should enjoy the whole walk on the path. Wherever that path leads us to, the most important steps we will ever take, are those while still living in the moment.There will always be alongside our paths, nature showing us the most beautiful things about life to make us truly live the moment. Find those moments and you found the right steps towards happiness.

Written by: Stef Caamano