As we near the Christmas, Kwanzaa, and other holidays, most of us anxiously await the happiness we anticipate having from these events. It doesn't matter what's happening with the economy, wars, celebrities, and so on, we're focused on creating happiness for ourselves and our families and friends.
Many of us can barely contain ourselves. We need so much to make us happy. Most of our needs must be met by money. We need money to shop for groceries, clean the carpet, get the bedrooms ready for guest, and fret over the amount of time we need to do all of this and cook, too.
Some of us try not to think too much about money. This only brings up what's really happening in our lives. So it's much easier to forget about it now, and just go ahead and spend what we need and worry about how we're going to pay for it later. After all, we opine to ourselves, it's only money, and we'll only being adding an additional $25 to our monthly credit card payments.
Nevertheless, problems aside, we just want to be happy during this time of year. To be able to sit down to a sumptuous dinner, listen to family laughter, watch football games, and enjoy the boundless energy of young children running and laughing is priceless. Regardless to the debts, fears, worries, doubts, and insecurities, they pale in comparison to the happiness we are seeking.
For some of us, we can only imagine the happiness. We are mourning the loss or absence of family members. Our family structure has changed. And these changes have disrupted our happiness. So we are trying to restructure happiness without the loved ones missing from our lives. These missing feelings can become quite depressing if we allow them to fester, untreated, in our minds.
We become attached to people and connect them with holidays. When we do, we create regrets, needs, and desires for permanency. These are the things that cause us to feel unhappy and depressed. Yet, without our memories, we might find it difficult to enjoy the holidays at all.
One of the greatest obstacles on the enlightenment road is our attachment to people and events. It's important for us to understand the power attachments hold over lives. To do this, requires an understanding of attachments and our desires to achieve permanency in our lives.
To live with attachments to people, holidays, and other trappings create unfavorable conditions for us. While we desire everything to remain in much the same way, we know, at least at a deeper level, that it's not possible for us to have permanent relationships. And while we might want to plan for the holidays to be the same as they were years ago, unfortunately, this is not possible.
The joy and happiness of previous holidays are not transferable to the upcoming holidays. Each holiday has the potential and power to express its own joy and happiness. This means we must be willing to let go of the past and focus on what's happening in our lives now in order for us to enjoy the happiness of today.
Similarly, we must understand clearly that all moments are transient and contain within them all the potentialities we need to live happy lives. So, instead of thinking about what's missing from our lives, we must begin focusing on what's in our lives now. And this includes people, finances, health, and so forth. In other words, if nothing is missing from our lives, then we are complete.
On the road to enlightenment, we find many opportunities to grow. The upcoming holidays are such great opportunities for us to take the time to live free of regrets, sadness, and the need to recreate happy moments from yesterday's memories.
Conversely, we have the opportunity to control our insatiable appetites for food, material gifts, alcohol, sports activities, and concentrate on being happy with the moments we have to talk with family members, who one day will only be memories.
Meanwhile, whatever we think or believe about a particular day is how we prepare for it. If we change how we think about each day and live it with desires for happiness, then they become our holidays. In other words, we don't have to set aside a few days to enjoy happiness with our families, we can do this any day we choose to.
Personal Note: I wrote "Seeds from the Ashes" to share with others how it feels to be overcome with regrets, fears, worries, doubts, and so on. It's a tool to assist those who feel powerless to change their lives. And like all books, it's not the final word; however, it's an uplifting experience during this time of year. "Seeds from the Ashes" is available on http://www.amazon.com/
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