Greetings, Sunny Buddies,
I hope you had a wonderful Jubilee celebration last weekend. As a family, we went camping on the shores of Lochearnhead here in Scotland. It was fantastic. The weather was so kind to us. We even have a wee bit of sunburn to prove it.
We were three generations hanging out together in happy alignment. Each was able to do their own thing with ease. I even donned my wet suit and had my first wild swim for this year. As you can appreciate from the compilation below, the scenery around Lochearnhead is stunning.
Seeing our wee nature boy, Noah, enjoy his freedom to roam was lovely. However, what was so special was the way he would sit by the water’s edge in what felt like quiet contemplation.
Scotland can be so stunning. I am so grateful to live here. And from this weekend, I have so many more memories now stored in my happiness basket.
As I was thinking about this week’s topic, I thought it might be nice to explore happiness a bit further. Then, I remembered the book Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding by Billy Mills and Nicholas Sparks. It is about a young Native American Indian boy’s quest to find happiness after a family tragedy. This simple tale has so much to savour, and I will share more from the book next week. First, I would like to focus on one gem that flows nicely from my family time last weekend.
The Happiness Sequence
The Man of the Hills is the one guiding the boy David on his journey. First, he introduces the idea that in the natural world, there are many sequences—for example, the flow of the seasons, from spring to summer to autumn to winter. Our human life cycle is another example: baby to child to adolescent to adult. Then there is the beauty of the tiny acorn that grows to be the great oak.
This teaching from the Elder feels wonderfully self-evident to the young boy. I could feel this child-like awe and wonder within myself too. I felt my optimism lifting in the knowledge there are universal sequences to life that are inviolate. We can rely on and be guided by them.
The Old Man then goes on to share with David that there is also an inviolate sequence to happiness that can be relied upon too. This idea was intriguing to me.
Does this work in practice, I wondered?. My subsequent experience has been a wholehearted yes!.
Below is the sequence the Elder offers David. Enjoy:)
The Happiness Meditation (do this 3 times a day)
Find a comfortable place to relax.
Close your eyes and count from one to ten, exhaling with each number.
Relax further as the count progresses.
Once you reach ten, feel the relaxation spread through your body
Think of anything that makes you happy. Make it as real as possible.
Say aloud ten times “I am happy”.
Count from ten back to one and open your eyes.
Smile
One of the book's key messages is that happiness does not come from the outside but from weaving inner relaxation, imagery and intention. I appreciate that my memories from last weekend are things I can visualise in the meditation that make me feel happy. I also appreciate that saying ‘I am happy’ ten times brings alive my intention to be happy.
I love it!
I did the mediation this morning and have had a bubbling sense of wellbeing ever since.
Questions for this Week
And so, dear, Sunny Optimists, here are my questions for you this week.
What happy memories do you have from last weekend?
Are there sequences in the natural world that you appreciate?
Does this happiness meditation sequence resonate with you?
As always, I would love to hear from you. Your comments give me a sense of community and the opportunity to get to know you better.
Wishing you a happy weekend.
Ann
Thank you Ann
I really enjoyed taking myself out to lunch to a favourite farm cafe just outside Fintry after looking at a potential new home.
A favourite natural sequence that I enjoy is Egg : Caterpillar : Chrysalis : Butterfly
I have enjoyed a few times the meditation. I notice a wee charge I have around the word "Happiness" - I have renamed it The Contentment Meditation and it sits much more comfortably with me as a result and can enjoy it more - does that then make me happy? Grr! there's that word again. :-)
I really like the meditation and it does resonate with me. Unfortunately finding it hard to be happy as we had to say goodbye to our lovely dog on Friday but that equally highlights the circle for me. Shona brought us 14 years of tremendous happiness and thinking about her as my heart is hurting also can make me happy.