Want a ‘happy’ 2023?
A happy 2023, is not so much about what you achieve or what you do this coming year, it's more how & what you think.
Happiness is actually not really what we're searching for. It’s simply a temporal state. And yet happiness is what society has programmed us to chase after. And we've also been gripped in the misunderstanding that things outside of us (like achieving goals & having material possessions), can make us happy.
But if you reflect more deeply, you may already realise that a promotion, a big house, more money, a nice car doesn't actually create the feeling of happiness. These are usually literally dreams that we chase after, thinking that ‘the big house’ is part of the perfect 'happy' life.
It's important to see that any things outside of us don't actually create our happiness, even though sometimes it might look like that. Happiness is a feeling inside the body. The thing that creates our feelings, is our thoughts.
So before you set your New Year's resolutions or goals, let's just remember how the mind works.
Peace (& happiness) is always available.
Use wisdom to set good goals.
Peace
Peace & happiness are available to us in any moment. It's part of the natural design of what it is to be a human.
Look into the eyes of a young child at play. They don't have a care in the world. They are not overly thinking. They're not thinking they need to get somewhere, they are simply playing - at peace and happy.
The key is to see that when we're not caught up in our thinking, we can be in the present moment and access peace & happiness. The answer really is spending more time fully in the present moment, fully experiencing, enjoying and appreciating the splendour of life right here right now.
The implication of this is massive. We don't need to get anywhere in life or to have anything specific to experience peace and to be happy.
Wisdom
It's fine to set goals for the New Year, but be sure to do so from your inner wisdom. Don't set goals that you think you 'should' want. Don't set goals from ego-ic thinking - to look good, to have lots or to be recognised.
Tune into what you deeply know you want. Some call this listening to your intuition, or your calling, a deeper knowing, or inner wisdom.
A vital part of the human journey is to decipher the difference between 'should have' thinking and wisdom.
Do you want to access clearer thinking in 2023?
Our Quality of Mind programmes are a great place to start.
