Lasting Happiness

Let’s be happy. A friend of mine said something today that caught my ear. They believe:

There is no lasting happiness without peace in your heart.

I enjoy talking about what makes people happy. I’m a big fan of happy stories with happy endings.

Most of all, I love a good dopamine hit. When the “happy hormone” of dopamine is released in our brain, we feel a sense of temporary pleasure.

Temporary.

I thought happiness was limited to temporary meaningful moments – with different people finding different moments meaningful.  I meet a lot of people who use the phrase:

I’ll be happy when…

They will say:

I’ll be happy when… I get married. 

I’ll be happy when… I get divorced.

I’ll be happy when… I have children.

I’ll be happy when… I have grandchildren.

I’ll be happy when… I am promoted.

I’ll be happy when… I am retired.

I’ll be happy when… I buy a boat. Old joke:

What are the two happiest days for a boat owner?

The day they buy the boat and the day they sell the boat. 

Meaningful moments change. Yep, happiness is fleeting. 

I never thought of “happiness as lasting” until my friend explained:

Lasting happiness is different than looking and waiting for something else to make you happy. “I am happy” comes from a state of being. When you have peace in your heart, your state of being reflects your inner happiness.

I wondered how to achieve this enlightened sense of being and immediately regretted giving up my Buddhist Studies. I added “Meditate More” to my to-do list.

My friend isn’t Buddhist and has no interest in mindful meditations. They noted that I was still trying to experience a lasting state of happiness by doing something instead of being something.  

Buddhist teach “sukha” as happiness that's independent of the conditions of your life or your mind state. Sukha is an authentic state of happiness within a being that is lasting. BE happy instead of DO happy.

The same way we teach others about being valued is the same path for being happy. Lasting happiness begins in our hearts and souls. 

Let’s be happy together. Let’s live life as we were created to be with love in our hearts and peace in our souls.