Time again for another Poem of the Month, and it’s on a subject that we’ve almost forgotten the meaning of… HAPPINESS…

… the seeking of, to be more specific.

I think sometimes we use the word, “happiness,” incorrectly… 

When we mean “disappointed” or “displeased,” we use the word “unhappy,” when we actually are not unhappy… but just stumbling for a moment until we figure things out and find the right description.

Marcel Pagnol said that the reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be.
Bottom Line! Happiness is an inside job!!!

It does not come from reaching a particular goal, or from inheriting a large sum of money, or from winning a popularity contest… No, it is either inside of you or it is not… and the person who can put it there is none other than you.

Yes, the onus is on you (and you, alone) to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination, according to Buddha. And happiness doesn’t depend on any external conditions; it is governed by your mental attitude.

And the best way to be happy is to think more about others than you do about yourself. Mother Teresa teaches us to let no one come to us without leaving better and happier.

Also, as I close… remember, whatever the question, love is the answer…

SEEKING HAPPINESS

Is happiness what you seek above all else?
Is it the goal you pursue every waking hour?
If you’re not feeling happy, is it someone else’s fault?
(I can’t believe you give someone else that much power.)

A lifelong search, if that’s your style,
To go chasing after happiness all over the land??
Happiness is like a cloud that evaporates in time…
It’s a by-product — not a thing to hold in your hand.

Herman Hesse explained happiness another way:
“Happiness is a ‘how,’ not a ‘what.’”
…it’s “a talent, not an object,” he continued to say.
From another perspective, it cannot be bought.

“We can only be happy now,” it is said,
“And there will never be a time when it is not now.”
Gerald Jampolsky shared this wisdom with us.
(He clears up some questions about time, somehow.)

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”
Omar Khayyam is credited with this thought.
You are the carrier of all your own joy, and so
You can enjoy it only if it is what you’ve brought.

Describing happiness and how to have it
Is best explained by what it is not.
Happiness is the absence of striving for it!
Stop your desperate search and ‘follow the dots.’

The ancients suggested that the chiefest point of happiness
Is that a person is willing to be what he/she is.
Choose to be happy.  It is good for your health.
I suggest it strongly (with much emphasis).

You’re more apt to find happiness when you help others find theirs.
Do not worry about who’s ahead in the score.
To forget oneself is to be happy, it is said,
And the happiest of all are those who give more!

In introducing the February 2023 Poem of the Month, I turn the floor over to an author whom I admire very much… Marianne Williamson, author of The Gift of Change; Tears to Triumph; A Return To Love, and many more.

“It isn’t the amount of our years that will determine the life we live now but the amount of our love. Our future is not determined by anything that happened 20 years ago, 30 years ago, our even 10 minutes ago.  It’s determined by who we are and what we think, right here,  right now, in this moment.  Almost every hour of every day, we’ll find ourselves in a situation  where we can be now who we weren’t before.  And from this newness in our being springs fresh opportunities we could ever have imagined. 
God specializes in new beginnings.”

Remember, dear ones… Whatever the question, love is always the answer.

NEW BEGINNINGS

How lovely it is to know that tomorrow
Is a new day for you… with yet no mistakes;
To have something so clean and fresh to look forward to
Gives you hope for your future, for goodness sakes!

In fact, every moment is a fresh beginning.
Start right now, don’t wait for tomorrow.
Your life does not get better by chance;
It gets better by change… lose your sorrow.

“The only person you are destined to become
Is the person you decide to be.”
Emerson shared this bit of wisdom;
His message is simple… I’m sure you’ll agree.

Be willing to get rid of the life you planned
In order to receive your life in the waiting.
You must shed the old skin, be open to change.
With new attitudes, a new life you’re creating.

Holding on is believing that there’s only the past.
Letting go is knowing that there’s a future for you.
It all begins in the beginning, as you know;
And it begins after you shift your mind… it’s true!

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong.
Concentrate on all that will go right.
As Dolly Parton says, “If you don’t like the road,
Start paving another one.” (Such insight!)

Buddha shared wisdom about new beginnings.
His words are soothing; they have much to say.
“Each morning… we are born again.
It matters most what we do today.

… And so the new year begins… just like that, not slowing or stopping for anyone or anything. The cycle begins again.

Are you ready?

Are you ready to jump on the wagon and enjoy the ride?

Or are you sill trying to put out fires from the yesterdays of 2022?

In the Poem of the Month for January 2023, ALL GOOD IN THE END, I am sharing some ideas and philosophies that I find helpful in just enjoying the ride.

And remember… whatever the question, love is always the answer.

ALL GOOD IN THE END

Sometimes when your spirits sag,    
And you think to yourself, “Why me…
What did I do to deserve this pain?
I guess happiness is no guarantee.”
The questions mount, you fear the worst;
You wonder if pain is your destiny.

Maya Angelou said, “No matter what happens
Or how bad it seems today,
Life does go on, and it will get better.”
(If only the course you will stay.)
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
Are the words Winston Churchill had to say.

New beginnings can come disguised as painful endings,
Designed to test your strength to its core.
Just ‘hang in there’ and everything will be fine —
But maybe not the way it was before.
Live the questions now, and gradually, without noticing,
You’ll live your way to the answers… furthermore…

There’s an expression I love; it’s been quoted over and over,
Even appeared in a movie I highly recommend.
Wilde and Lennon — “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
All shared the same philosophy, my friend.
“Everything is going to be fine in the end —
If it’s not fine, it’s not the end.”