for all to suffer less............

I read this morning that the Dalai Lama has a new book being released today. I always admire what he writes so it will undoubtedly be on my reading list. In a review that I read there was a phrase that jumped out at me and gave me cause to sit back and reflect on it. It read 'to bring peace to a suffering world'. Yes, this is a simple enough phrase but all that it says is so huge in the world that we live in and it occurred to me that it resonates on so many levels. Suffering is all around us and we seem to simply accept it. I believe that can be changed.

We are not at peace as individuals, communities, countries, societies, cultures and as a planet. We can see that all around us if we look closely. We are all suffering at some level and this has increased over the years to a height now that is almost too tall to reach to begin to make a change? I think it is on the brink of being just out of our reach, but that this has it's own purpose also. We often may not notice the depth of a problem until it reaches these huge proportions and only then are we are faced with the reality of what needs to happen. The whispers have run out and the volume has been turned up quite a bit.

We have a 'sadness' that reaches deep into our core and when that sadness faces outward it comes out in ways that spell our behavior. Mother Earth also has a sadness in her and only recently have we begun to realize that this has been by our own hand that she cries. The really devastating part of all of this is that we think we are fine and we think that all is fine around us. It's just easier to live this way because then no one has to take responsibility for any of it. We can all be in denial. This has become our normal way to live and experience life. I believe it can be different though.

 I have believed for a long time that a person can choose to live a life without suffering and that it will make a difference not only in their life, but in the lives of many. This is not necessarily easy though because it will give cause first of all for us to make changes that we need to make and we know how unsettling that can be. But when we can understand and look inside of our own suffering, then solutions are available to us and we can implement them to build a life that is less stressful. As we choose this for ourselves we begin to live a life that is blessed with greatness on many levels. If we set out to try to 'change the world' we will find the task ahead of us overwhelming and probably sign off on that challenge pretty quick. But instead if we simply look at our own life and make changes that will work for us, it will transcend to others as needed. It will be effortless for us in terms of not intentionally setting out to change the world, but the effects of our changed life will be witnessed by others and they will observe and then possibly absorb this for themselves. It will have a 'silent' impact on many and for others it may resonate largely. We just need to live our best life possible. I understand that not every day will be free from suffering, but how we deal with our daily challenges will be observed by others and the 'silent' teaching then has the possibility to cross into their life also.

One person's life can impact many lives. Let's choose to live our best life and in turn ease our own suffering and possibly the suffering of others also. These efforts will bring about changes in the world. I believe that.............

Namaste

year round joy......

It seems that in the month of December we hear the word 'joy' alot. The 'joy' of Christmas, 'joy' to the world, the 'joy' of the season, and it goes on and on. Now I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing but it gave me cause to wonder as to why we hear it so much in December and yet barely an honorable mention the rest of the year. Well, it may be mentioned here and there, but certainly not the way it is exalted in December. The last month of the year is practically filled with joy and the rest of the year seems to go without. Hmmm.....why is that?

I looked up the definition of joy and it's said to mean "the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation". Ok, that sounds good to me. Makes alot of sense and I can say that December is often filled with much of what the definition states. So what happens the rest of the year? Is there no 'delight' or 'happiness' in the first eleven months of the year? I realize we won't be walking around filled with joy each and every moment of our life, but I think it can be present alot more than what it is. I just don't think we need to be joy-'less' from January til November.  There must be 'joyful' things in our lives in the first 11 months. I like joy. I like delight and happiness. It makes me feel good and who doesn't want to feel good?

I look around as I move through life and see alot of people that do not express happiness. Maybe they don't know for themselves what that looks like or are unable to realize it in their life because they really don't have an understanding that happiness can be afforded for them also. The prevalent feeling in the world these days is not joy. We are much more surrounded by misery and unhappiness than joy. This has become our norm and then leads us to minimize even the possibility of happiness or joy. Our thinking and believing has been turned around and held at bay because of how the world has shifted itself to live in unhappiness. How did we get so unhappy? That's a whole other blog post but I think you know what I'm getting at. I think this is more than likely a big part of the problem. It's not uncommon for people to be puzzled by another person's happiness or good mood. I have had people come up to me and ask me how I am and when I say I'm 'great' they respond by questioning that. For a moment they make me think I maybe shouldn't feel so great and that I should re-examine that. It's not the norm anymore to be happy or feel joy. So then is unhappiness the 'new normal'? Oh dear.....we have really messed this up, but like I said if you look around, alot of everything points toward non-happiness. So how do we begin to change this attitude...... because it is an 'attitude' and it can be changed. Somewhere back we chose misery and unhappiness and now we can choose something different. I know it's not as easy as waking up and just being happy but if we even have the understanding that we have a choice then it makes a difference. We can be in charge instead of letting others be in charge for us. The more that we collectively begin to make a change then we will see changes reaching farther and farther from us. It's the ripple effect and it will simply do what it does so beautifully and it all starts with us.

There will always be something, even if it's only one little thing, to be joyful about in life. It need not be big. Yes, we may be living in a world prevalent with misery and unhappiness but let's choose to turn that around and fill our lives with joy. Start with even a few moments of joy and you will find that it will change how you feel. Then increase the moments of joy and you will find that it feels a whole lot better than miserable. Hopefully the scale of happiness vs. unhappiness will tilt itself to a new normal for yourself and you will feel the effects of joy. It does make a difference. It will change your whole being because what we do and how we feel affects us as a whole person. 

Let's look for and experience joy all year round. Let's find joy in our daily life and then bring it to others by simply being who we are and living the life that we do.......

May your day be joyful .........

Namaste