
Our group is starting a 4-week course this Monday based on Sharon Salzberg’s bestselling book - Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation (A 28-day program). To note the course, I went to the calendar to create a series of appointments which I labeled “Real Happiness” As soon as I typed in the words Real Happiness I was struck by the underlying significance of what I was doing. I don't know about you but I am pretty sure I have never made an appointment with happiness. Of course, this prompted me to think more deeply about it, which invariably prompts more questions than answers.
To BE happy, in this busy world of DOing, are such appointments necessary, advised, just one more thing to DO? What would such appointments consist of, that is, what is the substance of happiness that we would expect to encounter at such an appointment? Who and/or what does happiness look like? Would we know happiness when it presented itself or do we ask happiness to be wearing a white sport coat and a pink carnation in order to recognize it? What if happiness is wearing something other than the pink carnation we were expecting? Would we delete happiness from our contact list? Would a series of short appointments with happiness turn into something greater or will one long appointment be about enough? Is it too much to want and/or expect hook up with happiness? What happens if happiness fails to show up for our appointment? Would we reschedule?
To BE happy, in this busy world of DOing, are such appointments necessary, advised, just one more thing to DO? What would such appointments consist of, that is, what is the substance of happiness that we would expect to encounter at such an appointment? Who and/or what does happiness look like? Would we know happiness when it presented itself or do we ask happiness to be wearing a white sport coat and a pink carnation in order to recognize it? What if happiness is wearing something other than the pink carnation we were expecting? Would we delete happiness from our contact list? Would a series of short appointments with happiness turn into something greater or will one long appointment be about enough? Is it too much to want and/or expect hook up with happiness? What happens if happiness fails to show up for our appointment? Would we reschedule?