During fifteen years perambulating this circuit (and in the preceding decades of walking and musing), I have occasionally pondered the idea of "finding happiness", looking far out into the distance like happiness is a destination to be reached; like it's a gleaming city whose glow can be seen just over the horizon--like Oz. And like Oz, there would be no doubt in your mind when you got there.
It struck me tonight that this image of happiness is undoubtedly wrong and dangerously misleading. The happiness I've always looked for is more likely already all around me, like jewels hidden in the long grass along my path, waiting to be discovered and plucked up. It's ever-so-cliche, but it occurred to me that happiness should be the journey, not the destination. You don't reach happiness--you find it. But to find happiness, you have to be looking for it. And you have to believe you deserve it.
Before every yoga practice, you are encouraged to set an intention for that practice--something you specifically want to focus on during your time on the mat. Because practice can sometimes be challenging, I often set the intention of finding joy in every pose I attempt. I find when I remember my intention I can smile even when my quads are screaming or when I'm falling again and again out of a balancing pose (any balancing pose). I want to bring that concept off the mat and incorporate it more fully into the rest of my life. Maybe that's my first resolution for 2012--find the joy.
It struck me tonight that this image of happiness is undoubtedly wrong and dangerously misleading. The happiness I've always looked for is more likely already all around me, like jewels hidden in the long grass along my path, waiting to be discovered and plucked up. It's ever-so-cliche, but it occurred to me that happiness should be the journey, not the destination. You don't reach happiness--you find it. But to find happiness, you have to be looking for it. And you have to believe you deserve it.
Before every yoga practice, you are encouraged to set an intention for that practice--something you specifically want to focus on during your time on the mat. Because practice can sometimes be challenging, I often set the intention of finding joy in every pose I attempt. I find when I remember my intention I can smile even when my quads are screaming or when I'm falling again and again out of a balancing pose (any balancing pose). I want to bring that concept off the mat and incorporate it more fully into the rest of my life. Maybe that's my first resolution for 2012--find the joy.
Speaking of 2012, the little chime on my Casio G-Shock watch just told me that midnight is now in the rearview mirror, making these the first moments of the last day of 2011. Let the journey continue. Keep your eyes open. Find the joy.
via mobile (then fixed via laptop)
