A Lifestyle Lesson for More Happiness
Our culture is defined by consumerism, which means there are many people who benefit from you wanting what they have.
Advertisements are designed to program our brains into believing we want what they want us to want. And families, schools, medical systems, and political parties also play a big role in molding us to become what will be useful and fruitful to them.
This means that much of what we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch is actually designed to program us to desire what we ‘should’ instead of honoring our built-in desire designed by the Divine.
When we’re happy, what we desire aligns with what we do which aligns with what we have.
When we’re unhappy, it’s usually because what we have is a product of ‘programmed desire’ - not Divine Desire.
To inch closer to happiness, each of us needs to get back in touch with our Divine Desire, our compass for building a happy life.
Getting to know your true desire is the key to being more happy. Here are three lifestyle practices that can help.
SEE: Notice what makes you smile.
A genuine smile is a sign of alignment, a little signal that says who we are in that moment has aligned with what we are experiencing. It’s a physical sign of happiness.
Take note of the things that genuinely make you smile throughout the week and notice what’s going on during those moments. Are you with family, pets, friends? Or are you alone? Are you moving your body or resting? What activity are you doing? When you know the situations that makes you smile, you can create more of them.
STOP: Stop shopping for a bit.
Stores - both in-person and online - are designed to highlight what you don’t have, amplifying your feeling of lack to turn your desire toward what they have to sell.
Taking a break from shopping can give your brain a break from this very powerful programming and give it an opportunity to re-calibrate to your Divine Desire.
START: Have a bit of fun.
Each week, take an hour to reconnect with your sense of play. Color in a book. Swing on a swing. Go for a hike. Watch a movie. At first this might seem like work because you’ll be confronted with your amnesia of what lights you up. But eventually you’ll look forward to this fun time.
Life is meant to be fun. And the more fun you have, the happier you’ll be.
MAGIC MANTRA: I love doing what I want.