Flavors of Happiness

The first one is chocolate. Out of every 100 desires, probably 67 must be fulfilled by chocolate. However, it just leaves you wanting more. The happiness lasts only until the delicious texture of smooth cocoa lasts in your mouth. Happiness gained from fulfillment of desires is like this—fleeting. Before you know it, there is something else you need to do or get before you can say you're happy. It's an unending race! The secret is in making a subtle shift from eating chocolate to be happy to being happy and eating chocolate. Got it?

Would you like some strawberry next? They add a delightful pink wherever they are—the color of love. Girls are supposed to like pink by nature. Can we safely assume that it's because they are so loving? Often, we are caught up in analyzing how much love we received from whom, and what's more, this is judged by what gifts we received or what they did for us. This is totally conditional—our love for someone becomes conditional. The disadvantage is that our happiness is in someone else's hands. Take charge of it yourself. Move through life asking yourself how much love you can give. In this giving, happiness is an inevitable side-effect.

Vanilla please! Nothing can fill your senses like the fragrance of pure vanilla extract. Otherwise it could take a night in the forest or a storm in the dessert to do the same. Our happiness is stimulated to a great extent by our senses and sensory perceptions. What this means is that we are looking for happiness outside. You really want to be happy? Start looking inside. Find your source. Then nothing can shake you.

In short, happiness is your nature; it grows in giving and is unshakeable when you know that YOU are the source.

Do a Happiness Meditation Now

 

Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives. Read More