Everything in Hand

The day began grey, and then opened to sunshine.  At 6:45 a.m, the temperature sat at 56 degrees fahrenheit.  The greenery is inspiring and the gentle breeze off the sound add energy to the day's opening.  Today is Tuesday.

Happiness is something that many pursue, endlessly.  For human beings, it is helpful to remember that  every moment, in every activity -  there is a chance to catch a glimpse of it.  Being happy is not static.  Happiness lives!  And exists in the same way each one of us exists, with twists and turns so pursuing it with an expectation to hold on to it as a constant is futile.

Why?

Because living fully and naturally requires that we see things clearly and in seeing things clearly, one cannot escape the fact of so much suffering in our world. Happiness dissolves in the face of suffering - material, emotional, spiritual.  And yet, happiness is the goal.  This is how we are - very forgetful, very numb, and at times very clever about how to hide our own suffering.  

How can one be truly happy when so much suffering exists in our midst?  How does one enjoy all the experiences that bring a smile or laughter, knowing that somewhere else there is grief and desperation?  How does one live happily when one begins to see that misery is endless in this lifetime for many, many others?

The answer here is that one begins to see that one cannot have everything in hand in life because the conditions we must accept as part of life is that we have to become more comfortable with discomfort and insecurity!  That insecurity can help us overcome self-centeredness, inability to relate to anything different from what is known,  trauma from individual and collective harm we have inflicted, and much more.

In the end, it isn't difficult to see why it is futile to seek to be happy all the time.  

What is very possible is that one can find joy and happiness in a single moment, and if truly connected to that moment, it can feel eternal.  There, in that very moment of the ephemeral, one can experience a kind of bliss in almost any human activity - eating, gardening, walking, cleaning, sewing, and much more.  A perfect illustration of how the inevitable end of each life can still bring a moments of happiness can be found in the practice of setting flowers.  Cut flowers have already been sacrificed, the beauty inevitably will end - yet, if set with a heart of care, compassion, and love - an arrangement can bring joy to self and others!  Even a single stem, placed just so - can bring a feeling of peace and beauty to another.

Many have so much in hand already, to bring moments of joy into the lives of others as well as self.  If only we could understand.