"Happiness means feeling you are on the right path every moment"
(Thich Nhat Hanh)
Since half of July 2017 my daughter is living in Perth, Australia. Within one day after her graduation in Maastricht (The Netherlands) she left her 'home country'. Actually not feeling 'home' already for a long time any more.
No goal, just longing for the adventure of life. And, I, as her dad, am so proud she has the guts to do this. Many people cannot understand my support to her.
The whole system we live in drains us with all kind of wonderful basic and standard ideas. You need to go to school, you need to marry, you need to have a career, you need to get children, you need to have a nice house, you need to behave, you need to show you live happy, you need to be better, you need to 'be something'.
The more I live and work here and the more I contemplate about this system, I discover we are pushed in a kind of general pattern. I kind of (financial) control.
And we think a lot about what other people and society possibly think of us. All together we spend lots of times, days and nights, on thinking. Trying to find creative ways to not be different. We do not want to be judged and so harmed by what other people think of us or tell about us. And without being aware we leave and lose our self. Showing a happy non-self. We thrive... And the system is happy with that.
What about the only goal in life? LIVING, being yourself!
If you can be yourself, that is already action. You only think you need to be in the system and if not something terrible will happen to you. No food, no love, no roof above your head, no care, etc.. Thinking this, only is a trick of your mind joking with you, supported by your environment and the system. Action is based on non-action; action is being.
You don't need to arrive at the end of the path, as Thich Nhat Hanh mentioned, in order to be happy. If you do not have a fixed destination..., every day you reach an adventurous destination. The right path refers to the very concrete ways you live your life in every moment. Striving for reaching goals disturbs you from being aware of the many beautiful opportunities and invitations life can show you if you take the time to reach you. And if you reach your goal, the aim, most of the time you are not even happy because your are already running to the next goal.
There are people who do a lot, but who also cause a lot of trouble. The more they try to help, the more trouble they create even if they have the best intentions. They're not peaceful, they're not happy. It's better not to try so hard but just to 'be' and live. Then peace and compassion are possible in every moment.
Happiness is possible only when you stop running and cherish the here and now and who you really are.
As a proud father I have never seen my daughter so bright shining, full of tremendous energy, living and accepting life day by day. If and how this goes on...? I don't know. One thing for me is sure. Nobody never ever will take this life experience away from her. What an aim to open up to live life the fullest.
Have the guts to enjoy the adventurous educational journey of life. You are already someone; you do not need to become someone else. You are already a wonder of life.
Frans Captijn
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight
Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow in life, love, family, business, career and work. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or organization.”
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