Happiness Runs

The musical director at WSUU has some diverse selections, and a few weeks ago she chose an old song, "Happiness Runs" by Donovan, and we sang it in a round.

It gets into my head sometimes, and out of this sweet little bit of silliness, I'm finding deep thoughts.

"Happiness runs in a circular motion,
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea;
Everybody is a part of everything anyway,
You can have everything if you let yourself be.

Happiness runs, happiness runs...

Why? Oh, because..."

Today this song is playing it's merry way through my head and making me smile. I really believe that we can not be happy until we're making others' lives happy (that's the circular motion) and that living according to our innermost personal values is the key to our happiness. We are all connected to one another, and there is no escaping it. Our thoughts bob about and change and shift with the currants, but we are all interconnected and if we accept this interconnectedness and listen to our inner voices, we'll be happy. Happiness is out there, running around waiting for us. Why? It just "is." Whether it is God's will, the workings of an intricate universe, or something intrinsic nature is unknown to us. But it is.

I'm working a lot on happiness lately - as a matter of fact, it's ALL I'm working on. A friend asked me if that was not the wrong approach (what about peacefulness? compassion? wisdom? love?) and my response is that happiness, TRUE happiness, is the result of all of those things. If I want to be happy I need to live according to those other values. The result of peacefulness, compassion, wisdom, and love must be happiness, I think.

The Dalai Lama spoke of this, much more eloquently than I ever could. He talked about "good selfish" and "bad selfish." "Good selfish" is what I'm trying for. I wish to be happy, and that could be seen as selfish. But the thing is, I want deep and true happiness, the kind where my mind is not nagging me that I've done something wrong, and to get that kind of happiness, I must be generous in other ways. The end result, I hope, is my internal happiness; the external result, though, is improving the world around me and other's happiness (and this is the "good" part of "good selfish"). It is not wrong to be motivated by what feels good, the Dalai Lama said, when the world benefits.

("Bad selfish" is living only for the moment, regardless of its impact on others. I might throw out angry words because it feels good in the moment to be "right," but in the end, these words hurt me as well as others because I know that hurting someone is never justified. I might do something bad to the earth because it's convenient to me, but to do so is foolish, because in the end I pay the price, and my selfishness harms others AND myself.)

Apologies to the Dalai Lama for saying this so much less eloquently than he did, but it has struck me in profound ways and I'm really trying to live according to these values.

So, today, where-ever you are, and whoever you are, I hope that you feel happy. I hope that you feel that little bubbling happiness inside of you that says "I know who I am. I know I'm doing the right thing." I hope you find many reasons to laugh, and to feel deep joy.

Love,
Kristina

PS My joy of the day: Dancing with Tessa. Tomorrow is my official lifting of the 10 pound restriction, and I figured that neither my body nor the plastic surgeon would know if I was 14 hours early. I put "Happiness Runs" music on, and Tessa and I danced with her in my arms, complete with dips. Tessa's joy at being held close by her mama was tangible, and gladdened me in ways that maybe only another mother can understand. Talk about healing...Tessa laughed and held me close and told me that she loved me "more than the trees....more than the hummingbirds....more than a sidewalk." Despite my confusion at why I'm being compared to slabs of concrete :-) this moment will stay with me for a long, long time.