Happiness is always an Option

I took a slow drive today through the hills on my way back fr work and i stopped at a point where u get a great view of Gunung Anis Baling. As i was taking in the whole panorama, i felt a sense of peace in my heart. It occured to me jus how beautiful life can be at the moment when your heart feels at peace. You needn't be elsewhere! Or doing anything else! Jus here, jus for this moment.. that gift is for you to experience. The gift of being alive in the present, free from encumbrances of past or future!

I used to think happiness is always a destination. That is always out there to be captured. That i would be happy if i achieved this or that! But when i did get it, i find i wanted something else and i wasnt really happy. It escaped me.. you know..I used to think i needed to ...e.g...be in some other country.. doin great things to be happy... I used to think ... happiness only came to those who deserved it.

But no, i realise, HAPPYNESS IS AN OPTION u can always take. It is our birthright as human being! It's there for your taking, with jus a shift of your mind. It is the mind that makes you happy or not. And it is the person who decide whether his mind should feel happy or not. Nobody or nothing can make you unhappy until you decide to let them to.

Expectations.. high standards... self chastisements... attachments.. are always walking ahead most of us in the path of happiness. But if we were to jus look at them as factors, external factors that has nothing to do with the nature of our minds... then it becomes easy to separate what's is you and what is the reality you need to deal with.

Granted life is bittersweet, but what is the point of beating ourselves up when for external things... that is meant to be handled as it it.. why go to bed feeling crappy over some stuff someone said or some crappy stuff that happened that day when feeling bad about it is not going to make it go away. Yes, we have to deal with the problem but what is wrong in feeling at peace with ourselves now. Problems are not us. We pass problems in our journey to reach wherever we head towards in life. Problems are like milestones, like potholes, like an uphill task. So why fret about it unnecessarily. In fact when we are at peace, we are able to think things clearly and make ... who knows.. better decisions.

Man are emotional creatures. Emotions are what makes life so interesting for us. Some people say we need sadness to appreciate happiness. Yes, true. But being at peace is a different kind of happiness. Happiness that is generated within. Happiness that is part of our .. soul. Sadness and other unpleasant emotions doesnt have to change the person that we are within. We need not end up with anxieties, fears and phobias unnecessarily.

So go easy on ourselves for jus this one day. Let's forgive ourselves for that mistake we made or that hurt we caused. We'll do better when we know better. Meanwhile, don't worry for what is passed, opt to be Happy for now!