Man in the Mirror PROJECT: Placing Conditions/Happiness

Have you ever noticed the way our minds think?  Have you watched your thoughts long enough to realize that maybe you are actively searching for something to complain about, or something to be wrong?  Maybe your mind is fixated on one thing; that whenever such and such happens, or when ever I get that big house, I'll be happy.  The ironic thing is that when you get the big house or when you do find that thing to complain about, it doesn't end.  There will always be something else to complain about.  There will always be something else we want.  Our conditioning most often leads us down a path of wanting and complaining.  We are fed it on the news and we see it in advertising; on the radio, TV, billboards, even popping up on our computers.  How can we not be conditioned then by a society that is continually bombarding us with images of things we need, shootings and bad people to complain about, and the next best thing that everyone in Hollywood is getting?

Sooner or later when people realize that keeping up with the Jones's and outer appearances don't make us happy, they begin the search within.  Maybe it starts with the question "What will make me happy?".  Sometimes the answer will automatically be conditional:  I'll be happy when I'm married, I'll be happy when I get a new job.  The list goes on and on and after that condition has passed, we will always place another one on the pile.  We have now set ourselves up for never being happy.  How crazy is that?  Yet that's exactly how we living unconsciously create our lives  Then we wonder why we're not happy.  Go figure!

If we take a step back and be just in the moment and let our minds be still, most often we will be at peace. This quiet stillness allows us to just be.  It is in this space we can reflect within on the things that truly make us happy.  The smile of a child, the lick from a puppy, dancing, painting, hugging our kids.  You'll notice the things that truly make you happy were never things to begin with.  It is the engagement in life itself, the exchange of love from one being to the next that always enters into the equation.  True happiness is love in action.  Always has been love, always will be.

We as humans instinctively know we need love.  It's just that sometimes we just don't know how to go about getting it.  Don't place conditions around love.  Don't box it in.  Let love flow from not only those around you but from the universe itself.  The trees, the flowers, the dewy raindrops left on your deck, or the kiss from your favorite pet.  Feel the love the universe has to offer and I promise you'll also find happiness.