Liverpool has been my home for the last week. It’s an amazing city — vibrant, historic, patriotic and the home of the Beatles! I even tracked down a yoga class while I was there, which always gives me that home from home feeling and a sense of belonging in a new environment.
I love listening to people around me and one of the key phrases I heard while in Liverpool was people saying "Happy Days!" Usually used at the end of a list that leads to a feeling of contentment — Happy Days! I wonder whether by even just saying the words each day it could help to change the way we think?
The Dalai Lama, when asked when he was at his happiest, replied "Now". So every day is a happy day!
The Yoga Sutras are a complete manual for the study and practice of Yoga and there are many translations and interpretations. It’s a permanent source of reference and inspiration for me. When thinking about the expression “Happy Days” and how we seem to constantly be looking for happiness, the following Sutra came to mind:
Sutra 2.42 - Santoshad Annuttamah Sukkha Labhah — "Through contentment, supreme joy is obtained."
How often do we feel truly happy or content? How often does reality fail to meet up to our expectations and we feel disappointment? As the former Beatle John Lennon put it in the song “Beautiful Boy” for his son, Sean, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
It seems to me that our biggest challenge is to be content with what we have, to accept what happens and to be satisfied with the hand we have been dealt.
Contentment comes first and foremost from having a sense of mental well-being. It’s often our annoyance and sense of regret from things not having gone the way that we would have wished that leads us to feel frustrated. We often look at what others have — or don't have — instead of being grateful for what we do have that leads us to feeling discontented.
Contentment is a dynamic and constructive attitude that brings us to look at things in a new way. It calms the mind.
Contentment means looking at every event with a smile. It helps us to have a good sense of humour. As quite a few of my new Scouse friends know, it helps us to achieve Happy Days!
I love listening to people around me and one of the key phrases I heard while in Liverpool was people saying "Happy Days!" Usually used at the end of a list that leads to a feeling of contentment — Happy Days! I wonder whether by even just saying the words each day it could help to change the way we think?
The Dalai Lama, when asked when he was at his happiest, replied "Now". So every day is a happy day!
The Yoga Sutras are a complete manual for the study and practice of Yoga and there are many translations and interpretations. It’s a permanent source of reference and inspiration for me. When thinking about the expression “Happy Days” and how we seem to constantly be looking for happiness, the following Sutra came to mind:
Sutra 2.42 - Santoshad Annuttamah Sukkha Labhah — "Through contentment, supreme joy is obtained."
How often do we feel truly happy or content? How often does reality fail to meet up to our expectations and we feel disappointment? As the former Beatle John Lennon put it in the song “Beautiful Boy” for his son, Sean, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
It seems to me that our biggest challenge is to be content with what we have, to accept what happens and to be satisfied with the hand we have been dealt.
Contentment comes first and foremost from having a sense of mental well-being. It’s often our annoyance and sense of regret from things not having gone the way that we would have wished that leads us to feel frustrated. We often look at what others have — or don't have — instead of being grateful for what we do have that leads us to feeling discontented.
Contentment is a dynamic and constructive attitude that brings us to look at things in a new way. It calms the mind.
Contentment means looking at every event with a smile. It helps us to have a good sense of humour. As quite a few of my new Scouse friends know, it helps us to achieve Happy Days!
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