Lucy Lopez

Naturally happy!

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Is it not easier to be happy when your wants are few?

Henry David Thoreau

A man would go to Walden Pond daily to catch fish.  Unlike the other people who went to the same pond, this man did not use a boat.  Instead, he sat by the edge of the pond and waited for the fish.  Without fail, he would catch one and, here is the interesting bit, regardless of the size of the fish, he would pack up and leave.  Daily.

It’s not as if he was antisocial.  He would smile and acknowledge others but curiously, he maintained a routine or made an agreement with himself that as soon as he caught a fish, he would leave.

“So what’s with this guy?” I hear you asking.

Someone actually did ask Thoreau this question when he related this story in a lecture in March 1846.  What did Thoreau say:  Your answer is as good as mine.

Why did Thoreau choose to tell this story?  What message was he hoping to convey?

Now, I am not necessarily claiming to answer these questions but here is what went through my mind as I read this story and as I wrote about it.  It occurs to me that when a person makes a conscious choice about his/her actions and does so without attaching to a particular outcome, that person has established the conditions for his/her happiness.

In other words, regardless of the outcome, I am going to be happy, at peace.

There have been numerous times when I have felt disappointed, frustrated or very much a failure as a result of how things turned out.  Sometimes, this would cause me to give up what I was doing.  Other times, it would ensure that I did whatever I did with a degree of resentment.  Neither of these left me feeling particularly happy or satisfied.

On the other hand, when I have done something motivated by the sheer joy and thrill of doing it, with little attachment to the outcome, I have not only enjoyed the ‘doing ’so much more, I have been far less influenced by the outcomes, rather like the man and his fish.

Why did he fish?  Who knows.  Your answer is as good as mine.  But that he fished and accepted whatever fish he caught strikes me as the behavior and attitude of someone who knows how to be happy!

What do you think?  Why did the man fish?  Do you ‘fish’ like this man?

Lucy Lopez – Hire Me!

Happy by Nature, Aware by Choice!

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When you look at a plant, for instance, and right now as I am typing this, I am looking at my jade plant, I see what I have learned to see.  I see a spread of succulent leaves, some large, some small, in various shades of green depending, among other things, on how the sunlight strikes them.  Many seem to have a gloss over them.  I also see grayish-brown shoots of various thicknesses.

What I don’t ’see’ are the atoms and molecules whose particular configuration and movement give rise to this thing that I call a jade plant.  What I don’t see is the subatomic world which is made up almost entirely of space and in which energy can take the form or appearance of particles or waves.  The jade plant that I do see is just one expression of one layer of reality.  I have reason to believe that there are many more, not just because science tells me so, as do the mystics of almost every spiritual tradition, but because I too have experienced other layers or forms of reality.

What I also don’t ’see’ is the constantly changing nature of this jade plant.  Instead I see a plant that seems to be exactly the same from when I last looked at it and which I don’t expect to look different later today.  But in fact, the energy of this plant is in constant motion.   Yet what I have learned to see is a static form of this plant that is the result of my past perceptions.

As my thoughts give rise to my reality, I see the reality of past thoughts.  Should I now change my thoughts, have different ones, or better still, simply suspend all my previous thoughts and keep a fresh and open mind, I will see something different.  I will certainly not see this jade plant as I have seen it thus far.

Things are just the way we see them but equally, they are rarely the way we see them!  We see a reality (consenses reality, if you like) brought about by our past thinking.  Rarely do we see the dynamic reality of ‘now’.  So, for these two reasons,

1.  There are other layers of reality that we have not learned to see

2.  The form of reality that we have learned to see is of past, not present, real-time cognition

if we are serious about knowing and engaging with what is ‘real‘, we need to learn to see the ‘real’.  It is this need to ‘get real’ that philosophers and spiritual masters from various traditions remind us of when they speak of the ‘world of illusions’ that we are so caught up in.  It is not that the jade plant is an illusion, but the way I have learned to see it prevents me from seeing the full nature of its reality.

What has all this got to do with happiness?  Our happiness or unhappiness is the result of how we see the world, the people and situations in it.  When our perceptions reflect historical data, not current data. and when our perceptions do not encompass the full scope of a situation or a person, we are not getting the ‘full, real picture‘.  As a result, we respond, or react rather, to inaccurate and incomplete data.  Can we therefore seriously expect to respond ‘accurately’ and achieve accurate and true results, both of which are necessary for our happiness?

What would happen if we could penetrate the illusions, see differently?  What would we find?  In my experience, what I find leaves me in awe for I see a reality that is perfect, free from my judgments, a reality that simply ‘is’.  In Buddhism, it is called ‘suchness‘.  It is a reality that I do not need to fight with or to overpower or run from.  It demands nothing of me and takes nothing from me.  It regards me in my ‘am-ness‘ as I regard it in its ‘is-ness‘.

I think the source of our sorrow and the source of our joy are intimately entwined. Our sorrow is that we have forgotten who we are, we have forgotten we are one with that source of all life–absolutely indestructible, perfect, joyful. The source of our joy is when we remember that. So if I could say one word, in the deepest sense, without any explanation, to myself, I would say “remember.”

Richard Bach

Lucy Lopez – Hire Me!

Naturally Happy!

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Image from Wikipedia

In a television documentary about music and spirituality around the world, the comedian of many talents, Billy Connolly, was asked about happiness. In his response, he briefly referred to a painful childhood which included sexual abuse by his father and abandonment by his mother.

From a boilermaker in Glasgow to world celebrity, Billy Connolly has had his share of ecstasy and agony. And despite (or understandably because of) his success at making people laugh, his sanguine comments about happiness are worth a thought. Rather than ‘happiness’, Billy said, he found it easier and more meaningful to think in terms of ‘contentment‘.

For Billy, and perhaps for many of us, happiness is a somewhat momentary or fleeting high-energy experience. Contentment, on the other hand, suggests something a bit more enduring and less volatile.   For me, happiness spans a bandwidth of experiences which include feelings of contentment, fun, delight, raucous laughter and quiet presence.

I wonder what you think about this distinction? Here are some questions to prompt some reflection:

• Would you describe yourself as ‘happy’ or ‘contented’?  Or do you feel you are neither and have never been either?
• Could you be happy without being content?  Could you be content without being happy?
• Could you be happy without smiling?
• Does experiencing disappointment or failure make you less happy?
• Do you believe that your happiness is the result of things that you do or acquire?

Just some questions that I have found useful to ask myself and others.  Enjoy!

Lucy Lopez - Hire Me

Naturally happy

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Image from Photobucket

Did you forget

you were once

happy?

When you smiled

easily

and your eyes

twinkled?

When you walked

lightly and long

and the atoms in the air

danced with you?

Did you forget you were once

innocent?  In-

essence?

When you hadn’t yet been

introduced to

Fear?

When your spirit

had names like

Enthusiasm

Intuition and

Freedom?

Or

has that memory

blurred

as a spot of ink

dissolving

in a large drop of

water?

Do not despair

for the molecules of ink

are still there

among

the molecules of water

as are your memories of

happy times

there among the

rolling, repeating patterns of

rehearsed life

Memories to remind you that

you were once

happy

and that

that is all you’ve ever

wanted to be

Happy.


Lucy Lopez – Hire Me

Awakening to our Greatness!

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I remember first encountering that rather long piece of prose poetry as a young teenager and finding it really hard to get into.  And even though I had encountered it several times since, that first impression must have stuck as I never really allowed myself to connect with it, at least not enough to leave a positive impression.

That afternoon, however, following yet another sumptuous meal that Luciana is notorious for feeding me, I followed her into the room where she had a framed copy of the Desiderata.  This time, I gave myself the mind and heart space to read it.  And was I glad that I did.

Even as I read it, I felt a gentle shift in the sadness I had been feeling.  The timelessness of its advice spoke in a direct and personal way to me.  Within these simple words was an understanding of the trials of life and insights into their management.  In short, it is a simple ‘how to’  i.e.  ‘how to be happy’!

When I returned home, I searched the Internet for what I now recognize as a truly inspired piece of writing!  Not only did I find it but I also found a little bit of its history.  Apparently, its author, a poet and lawyer called Max Ehrmann, had expressed a desire to “..leave a humble gift — a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods.”  I know that there are countless numbers of people, myself and Luciana included, who are grateful that he did!

Here is that beautiful piece of writing:

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Lucy Lopez

Awakening to our Greatness!

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