The path…

This is a quote from Buddha. It takes all of the hot air out of a person’s “I’ll be happy when…” mentality that we are fairly guilty of here in the U.S. “I’ll be happy when I make more money. I’ll be happy when I get in better shape. I’ll be happy when I find the love of my life. I’ll be happy when I eat healthier foods.” We may not necessarily make these statements out loud, but we certainly think them.

We tend to throw our happiness to the future, like it is something we need to attain through hard work and sacrifice, something that’s earned instead of lived. There’s a big 360 degree shift that needs to take place in order for us to appreciate that happiness comes from within and is not anywhere outside of us.

We can start by building on happy moments so that they become more of a norm in our lives. If we can acknowledge and feel these experiences, we can cultivate them and encourage them to grow in our awareness. We could become happiness connoisseurs! How can you go wrong with a practice like that?

What better way to come across this saying than at a sacred temple – and on a pathway, no less! I hope that the irony is not lost on the visitors. It certainly made my smile with its one-two punch.