Happiness Is Knowing How To Appreciate The Simple Things In Life
The simple things in life are like those stars that shine on clear nights. They are always there, surrounding us, offering us their subtle magic; However, it is not every day that we stop to look at them or remember that they exist.
Only when we are lacking, only when life gives us a small or big setback, do we suddenly appreciate what really edifies our hearts. What constitutes each of those internal strings that give music and meaning to our existence.
Some people say that the simpler our way of existence, the less worries we will have and the fewer mistakes we will make. Now, everyone is free to complicate his life as much as he wishes. We all have the right to take risks, project dreams and have a social circle as wide and varied as we want.
The main thing, the key to everything is not in leading a simple life but in being simple in thinking and knowing what is important. What really makes our hearts happy and identifies us. From there, all of us are free to build our particular microuniverses. We invite you to reflect on it.
Simple things are the greatest things in life
There is a fact that catches our attention, Google published just a few days ago which are the most common searches among users. Among them, the one that is almost always a trend is one in particular: “how to be happy?”
All of us have more than one thing that we would never trade for even the most incredible of riches. The lives of your children, your partner, your siblings … And maybe even your pets. Because what they give us and what we offer them is a priceless exchange of affection.
Now, the problem with all this is that life, sometimes, is not easy at all. You know, for example, that the most important thing for you are your children, but you have to do a long workday that prevents you from being with them as long as you would like.
You would like, without a doubt, that everything was easier, and hence, that sometimes we feel like we are lost in the face of so many pressures, so many obligations that day by day, take us away from what is really essential. Therefore, it would be interesting to think about these aspects for a moment.
The pleasure of simplicity is an attitude
Not all people know how to enjoy the simple things that life offers them. Perhaps because they are unable to see them, others because they do not appreciate them and are more inclined towards material attachment, for immediate satisfaction, that which does not last …
Enjoying the pleasure of simplicity is an attitude that many cultivate because they already have adequate inner peace and without artifice. The enjoyment of simplicity comes to some after a long journey where suddenly, they make an act of conscience and discover pleasures that they had not taken into account before:
- The pleasure of good friendships.
- Of a good morning and an unexpected caress.
- From the contagious laugh of a child.
- From that intoxicating wind after a storm
- Of a sun that sinks into the ocean in absolute silence
- Of a Sunday awakening with no worries in mind …
The balance of simplicity
As Lama Yeshe states: “ When you experience the sensation of balance, you experience an incredible universal spaciousness. Your constricted and rigid mind becomes totally open because it has reached the middle way from external thoughts. Your mind feels very comfortable and for the first time it really makes you mentally healthy. It is not just one more theory; it is a life experience ” .
What does Lama Yeshe mean to us with these words? Simplicity is a mental attitude and balance is essential. If we go from here to there clinging to the fact that the material will give us authentic happiness, we are wrong. Therefore, observing and appreciating the simple things in life offers us a mental balance that will generate innumerable psychological benefits.
Images courtesy of Zac Gertz and Pascal Campion
