“We are confused about what is going to make us happy.” -Sam Harris
The times we live in seem like an impossible place to find contentment. There are outer voices luring us to buy, to fear, to despair. There is an inner voice reminding us of our failures and unfulfilled dreams. There is a longing for things to be the way we want….all the time. We could easily sing along with Dorothy, “Somewhere over the rainbow.”
All these messages ensure that we will be tossed about, riding waves of highs and lows, happiness and disappointment, landing anywhere but in contentment. We get pulled out of ourselves, longing for what we don’t have, longing for the world to be safer and more sane. And where the mind goes, prana follows. The price we pay for our discontentment is loss of our vital energy.
Some questions for exploration:
Week One. Notice the things that pull you into anxiety and fear. Notice the things that lure you with their false sense of happiness. When you find yourself captured, take a deep breath and come back to yourself.
Week Two. Anytime you find yourself in discontentment, notice your energy. Contrast that to the quality of energy you have when you experience contentment.