Tuesday, August 27, 2013

"They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom."-- Confucius

Happiness is a moving target.
As you change, as your life changes, so too do your ideas about what it takes to make you happy.
As children, we swam in our happiness like fish in water.  We knew of nothing else, but thought our happiness would increase if we could just have that toy or be friends with that kid down the block.
As we grow, we see that happiness is a choice-- not in companions or material goods but in our own state of mind.
As adults, we no longer assume happiness. Long ago we lept out of the fishbowl.
I guess we evolved.  We developed strategies that keep us breathing the oxygen of adult life, but we yearn to swim again, to have the passion, emotional freedom, and excitement we once had as children.
On the bright side, change is inevitable.  We can learn to be amphibious: breathing and blending the heady air of our intellectual nature with the deep water of our emotional body with ease and mastery.

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