Happiness

The following is an excerpt from the book "Eat Pray Love" :

"I keep remembering one of my Guru's teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and some times even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you will leak away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."

I think this is a very important lesson for each and every individual to learn. So many of us question why happiness and contentment can't be permanent. Nothing about this life is easy. We must work for everything. Love, happiness, contentment, it all comes from our striving to achieve it, and our diligence to keep it.

I highly recommend reading "Eat Pray Love," even if you've seen the movie. The book is full of insightful passages, enlightening quotations, and spiritual lessons.

~Namaste~