1Stop Live

What is being happy?

In this 21st century so fast and intense, and maybe sometimes so complicated depending on how each person perceives their reality. Surely we have ever questioned ourselves if we are happy or how could we be happy. How do we find this space of well-being and happiness in the midst of so much turmoil, uncertainty, and above all so many changes?

Well, they are questions among many others, that naturally arise from us in this fast-paced 21st century that sometimes seems to collapse and does not seem to illuminate a new one.

Although to be honest with ourselves, the first thing we can try to do is to dismantle the ¨Myth of Happiness¨. Because from that honesty, we will see how we will appreciate that in the end, our entire search for it (a state of deep and stable well-being) has failed because perhaps all our efforts to enjoy, have fun, rest, buy a house, a new relationship, etc. within such a complex world have not been satisfied at all.

Although, if you open up your mind to find the key of your answers inside yourself, perhaps the concept of happiness will be broken down into a true version.

1. Dismantling the ¨Myth of Happiness¨

If we humbly dismantle the ¨Myth of Happiness¨, we will realize that this myth essentially puts our happiness outside of ourselves. And that inner state that we already have and it´s like our essence by nature, becomes something we have to achieve or accomplish. Although, if we stop for a minute, the beliefs behind that myth impel us to seek happiness in relationships, status, beliefs, or possessions we have, as well as in all kinds of experiences.

Then having codependency, believing that all these things will keep our happiness. So, we actually associate happiness with an emotional experience response that we live in the face of an experience.

But what is essential to know is that the emotion belongs to the realm of duality, in other words to the impermanence that is nothing but provisional. And although we sometimes taste happiness, we know that not far away awaits its turn unhappiness, and there is the pinnacle of the tragedy of the ¨Myth of happiness¨ believing that happiness must be sought, which implies in itself the encounter with unhappiness.

2. What is happiness?

Happiness as such is ¨ A State of Consciousness¨, a state of mind. What happens is that happiness is confused with an emotional state, and then we enter into a vicious circle of impossible search because it´s impossible to find deep and stable happiness in something that by its very nature is variable and unstable.

Then, if our inner state depends on external circumstances, you will wonder: How can all these variables be handled? Well, in this way we can tempt at most the tightrope of happiness and unhappiness until one day we may get tired of this game of lights and shadows that will lead us to look beyond… And go deeper…

3. A new adventurous angle

When the myth falls and we get to be humble with the reality of things. What do we have left? Just an angle to venture into life. Maybe we feel lost when we drop our chips because we depended on things that maintained what we thought was happiness, and in reality was like a fictional film!.

Thus, when we realize that, a whole new adventure begins that it´s no longer looking outside but inwards, just at that right moment the question of How to be happy? loses importance and fades.

The reason I say this is because if there is a state that we can call happiness (serenity, peace, harmony, and well-being) it has to be beyond any circumstance. In other words, ¨A state of being¨ that in itself is immutable, and this state is pointed out in all the traditions of wisdom: joy, happiness, beatitude, bliss,

And, indeed, this for many people will not cease to be another myth, another belief… it’s neither right nor bad. Although until you discover and experience it, all of these seem like wonderful ideas, and it certainly is when you discover it and live it in yourself. And this is where Meditation comes into play as a relevant tool that I invite you to become a participant of and experience…

4. Why Meditation?

Meditation is an ¨unconditional tool¨ that has nothing to do with the ideas or beliefs that each one has, but it´s more of a direct experience that takes you by the hand to discover the truth of things, of ourselves and the world as a whole, where happiness doesn’t have to come from a source outside ourselves.

Once you start to get carried away by meditation without resistance, that’s when you’ll start the many benefits that this practice can bring you

It´s also great to find out that from the late 1960s, different scientists were investigating the relationship between meditation and stress, discovering that the practice triggers something known as a relaxation response. At the same time, Dr. Herbert Benson published a reference book called, ¨The Relaxation Response´, telling us that It´s a physical state of deep rest that changes physical and emotional responses to stress., being then the opposite of confrontation or response¨.

That´s why I would like to share with you a few more of the benefits meditation provides, a practice for everyone and everything it takes to do it is present on everyone!

5. Meditation benefits

Hence, if Meditation stimulates our ¨Relaxation Response¨, it´s also one of the most effective ways to combat stress. That´s why we currently find more people interested in Mindfulness, and especially since 1971 there have been many studies on the relaxation response that highlight the many short-term benefits of its practice:

Reduces heart rate and anxiety.
Blood cortisol levels are lower.
Feelings of well-being increase.
Deeper relaxation and less stress.
Lower blood pressure and improves blood circulation.
It can help with addictions.

That´s why I encourage you to delve into the practice for you to know more deeply what Mindfulness offers. As this 21st century faces a powerful challenge as individuals and as a human with many times of change. And both this world, myself and maybe you who is reading this article right now, live a profound process of transformation, being the time to decide for us how we want to live it by taking RESPONSIBILITY either with meditation or without it. And maybe we will realize one day that happiness is already there and it was always with us along the way.

I hope you enjoyed this article and if you have any questions, you can ask me anytime!

Love always,