You’ve probably tried countless practices of personal development and spirituality. You’ve read a ton of books. Attended workshops. Spent endless hours in discussions. Tried various tools, approaches, practices to grow spiritually, build better habits and personality, set and reach goals.
All personal development and spirituality in the end boils down to one single question: How Can I Feel Happy Now?!
The lie, delusion or fallacy is in buying into the idea that I need things to be different to feel happy or that by changing something outside (achieve goal) I will feel happy.
Not true. It is a trap. As still the power or focus is on the outside, on something we have no real control over. But we try, we do our best and waste time on yet another wild goose chase.
It’s all a distraction.
Happiness is an inside job. Nothing has to change in our circumstances. Except our perspective, focus, thinking.
It may take some cutting and sorting through our mental bullshit reasons we keep telling ourselves. But if we dare to be completely honest with ourselves, we’ll realise that happiness is the ultimate goal – our true desire.
Every thing we want is for one reason only – we want to feel happy! That’s it! Whether ‘it’ is a new car, better job, more money, better body or relationship of any kind. We believe we’ll feel happier afterwards.
Maybe. Maybe not.
In either case – it is an outer circumstance. A condition that we can not hope to control most of the time, or at all.
We are victims or slaves of these circumstances. That is not freedom. Without freedom there can be no happiness.
Trying to gain happiness from outside-in is an unsustainable approach at best.
But we have to go that path at least initially, to ‘get it out of our system’ and consciously realise that that is not the right approach.
When we finally ask ourselves “how can I be happy now, regardless of the circumstances?” – then our path really begins. Then we are ready for some major inner work.