Living In The State Of Joy

The pursuit of happiness. The dominate motivator for humans in duality consciousness. What is happiness? Where can we find it? Why does it seem so elusive? Why are we constantly chasing it? Isn’t joy the same as happiness? This is the last next age 101 concept that when adopted will make our lives so much easier.

Happiness can be a feeling or it can be a state of mind. Trying to define it is difficult. It is a subjective concept with everyone having a different answer when asked the question, “what is happiness?” Maybe it’s the amount of money we have. Maybe it’s whether we are loved. Possibly our status in society or if our job is a respected one. There is not one definitive answer to this question even though so many of us live every day in search of it. How many times have you said or heard others say “I don’t care about anything else, I just want to be happy.” When hearing that statement I feel like asking them to define what that means but I don’t, because I know that the answer is as elusive as the question.

People look for happiness in so many different places. They look for it in the things they own. They look for it in the relationships they have with others. They search for it in the activities they do. Some hunt for happiness in the careers that they choose. It can be a daily pursuit, always looking for that one thing that will make us happy. It is like a hunger. We feel the need to be happy like we feel the need to eat. We are looking to be filled up. If we can get fulfilled then we will be happy.

Some people look for happiness in a Jack Daniels bottle or with drugs. Others feel sex will bring them happiness. Many feel they will find it at a shopping mall. The constant search for something that will create that feeling of exhilaration. Those “full of life” or “excited to be alive” feelings. Unfortunately these paths to happiness wear off quickly.

The idea of looking for happiness is always looking to the future. If I buy this home, I’ll be happy. If I get this job, I’ll be happy. If I have a child, I’ll be happy. If I win the lottery, I’ll be happy. Happiness is always in the future and always conditional.

Yes, there are times when we feel like we have found happiness but inevitably something will come along to mess it up and make us lose it again. Sometimes when we think we have found it,  then we get so afraid of losing it that we create situations for our selves that let it slip away. Often because we feel we don’t deserve to be happy. Then we have to return to our search for it.

What is happiness?

The answer is … there is no such thing! Happiness is an illusion. The definition of happiness is like a moving target. Everyone has a different answer. It is so elusive because we think we know what it is and we know we want it, but it does not exist. So how could we find it. It is a concept that people look for outside of themselves.

Looking outside ourselves for anything that we think we need to be complete or whole is a concept rooted in duality. Living in the future is another. Is happiness something we can obtain in the future? Can we really find happiness in anything outside of our selves?

The human in the next will know that the chase for happiness begins and ends within us all. We will know that happiness is an illusion because it can’t be defined.

Feeling joy in the present moment is the only thing that is real.

That joy is not found in the amount of money we have or given to us by others or found in the things we own. Joy and the ability to en-joy can only be created within us and only be felt right now. Not in the future or the past.

As an example I have used before, I like to observe young children. They create joy within them selves in an instant. One minute they can be crying after a fall and the next minute they are laughing and jumping around full of joy. They have no need of anything outside themselves to create the joy and exhilaration that we are constantly chasing. They are en-joying every second of their experiences in the present moment. Look in their eyes or observe their smiles to know this to be true. Young children are the role models for experiencing the joy of life.

You may feel that this is an oversimplification of a complex subject but that is the beauty of these next age concepts. They are simple like all universal concepts are. The knowing that we are one with all things. Understanding that we are God also. The elimination of judgement of people and events. Losing the ties of attachments that weigh us down and hold us from feeling and being free. And finally, the realization that happiness is an elusive, undefinable concept that is easily replaced by the real feeling of inner joy created in the present. You can’t be in joy (enjoy) in the future. These five basics, once integrated, will produce a whole new perspective on life and together will form the basic characteristics of the next age human.

When we have the answers about who we are, why we are here and what happiness really is, there will be no need to continue the search. Then we can relax. See things for what they are. Know that we need no-thing. We will look back and laugh at the things we thought we needed. We will know that the pursuit of happiness was a chase with no end because we will realize that happiness never  existed outside of our selves. We will remember that the natural state for us to experience life is one that only we can create. The state of being in-joy.

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