lifehack

this is an attitude hack... a life trick if you will?

one of the biggest tricks in happiness is to realize that you actually have "it" all now. waiting for a future time when you will have everything you need is the most common delusion that many of us face. i frequently battle with this delusion, and that is okay. a compacted life schedule and excessive activity with no long stretches of down time will hide the possibility that you actually have everything you need in every moment of your life. a simple logic proof of this is that you are still alive. since ongoing life requires breathable air, food, water, consciousness, lungs expanding and contracting, heart beating, and then add whatever else you have around you in your various places and that's icing on the cake.

the "it" is your authentic self based in your original nature, the self that existed before you were born. this is your true self, this is perfection. if you want to know more about the authentic self, google "zen + true nature" or "zen true nature." i found this example (pretty good, i feel): ezinearticles.com

i will propose just three of many ways to begin scratching the surface towards your realization that you have everything you will ever need, within yourself now in this moment, that you have always had, and will always have:

1. being grateful for what you do have 2. meditation 3. taking time for long stretches of down time

with a mentor or even just the idea that you have all the wisdom you need within you, you may begin accessing your inner power a little bit more each day. some of you may access it faster. often i have seen instantaneous enlightenment just because i know or someone else knew that enlightenment can happen instantaneously.

try this simple and brief exercise: sit up as straight as possible without straining, just enough to keep you alert, but not cause any pain. breathe deeply in and out for as many breaths as you care to. look around your immediate area while taking these deep, slow, full breaths. see what things/beings are in your midst that you can be grateful for. do this for as long as you care to up to five to fifteen minutes. that's it!

good luck on your happiness hack! are you beginning to see that you have everything now?

positive hint: if you do not see that you have everything now, try the exercise again later.

negative hint: if you do not at some point realize that you have everything in the present moment, you will never be happy, no matter how much external wealth you acquire. that's why a lot of rich people are unhappy. they have not learned this that i speak of.

positive help on the negative hint: but now that you are aware of this, you can exercise greater control over your happiness and create happiness now instead of waiting for some future event. since no one can predict the future, this is where the delusion lies. many of us are waiting for our happiness to be instilled in a future that we cannot predict. be grateful now, don't wait for later. later may never come. this is the key.

one person's take on zen history (interesting, especially if it's accurate): angelfire.com