Pathwalking 216
Find your happy place, and enjoy some time there.
We all have them. That place that we get to where the world is perfect. That spot where we are in absolute contentment, feeling alive and whole and where time can just stand still and we feel as if might want to live there forever.
That is your happy place. I think there are many different happy places for most people, but they are not just an abstract idea or a thought, they are a place where you are without care, without worry, without fear, in harmony and content and, dare I say, happy.
We live in a world that is far better at telling us why we should be angry, why we should be upset about this thing or that thing, why we should resist, fight, and generally be distressed about this thing or that thing. Doesn’t matter if it’s the economy or politics or celebrity shenanigans, we focus on the upsetting, disturbing and the negative.
It is hard to feel good when you are inundated with so very many reasons to feel bad. It is hard to be happy when the world wants to make you angry. It is hard to be building anything together when the world suggests you should tear it all apart. It feels like a struggle, it feels like we have to put so very much effort into every little bit.
That is why we need to allow ourselves to spend time in our happy places. This is why we need to retreat to these places where we are deeply contented so we can recharge our batteries.
What are these happy places? For obvious reasons these will be different for different people. My happy places are not going to be the same as your happy places and vice versa. Certainly there will be overlap and similarities, but what makes me feel best is not likely to be the same as what works for you.
Let’s look at some general happy places. Lying in bed cuddling with your lover. Just sharing the intimacy, no worries, no cares, just floating there together in calm. Standing under the shower letting the water run over you. Just listening to nothing but the sound of the spray and being utterly in that moment, no concerns, no demands, just time. Reading that book that just sucks you in, absorbing you so deeply into the story that you lose all track of time and forget even where you are physically doing that reading.
Finding that happy place is something I have taken for granted and forgotten the importance of. Last night I was on the road home pretty late, not a lot of cars on the road, it was a dark but clear night. I was cruising along, blasting some of my favorite music in the cabin of my car, and singing. As I rolled along a one-lane highway singing my heart out, I realized I was in my happy place. I had no concerns, I had no worries, time just flowed and I was in that perfect peace, that great comfort where I was relaxed, in the moment, and happy.
That’s one of the key things that makes up your happy places. These are places not in the then, but in the now. Happy places are immediate, they are a moment in time in the here-and-now where you are utterly content. You can’t necessarily plan for them, you just find yourself within them.
I didn’t set out to do anything apart from drive home last night, but in that journey I found one of my happy places. When I got home I was at peace, I was feeling revitalized, I felt as if I could take on anything that came my way.
All too often we forget about our happy places. All too often we reach a point where we know we have to move on from that place, and rather than give thanks for that time and leave contented, we feel cheated and we leave right into a less positive state of mind.
What this boils down to is one of the main elements of Pathwalking I often return to. It is so very, very important to live in the now. To be awake, to be aware, to be present. My happy places are great and wonderful spaces I arrive in at that moment, and they are to be savored, but they are not necessarily where I can live, much as I may want to. Knowing that they are there, knowing that they can be brought out at any time, I can seek them out and find them again.
Further, in knowing that there are these happy places and that they are ever-changing and always in motion because they happen in the now, we have infinite room to find and create more. There are new happy places to be found, to be enjoyed and to cherish after they have gone. We should not lament their passing, we should express gratitude for having them.
Gratitude is one of the keys to manifesting. When we are grateful for things and show that gratitude, it usually leads to more of those things. To reach more of those happy places, whatever they are, we need to be grateful for them after we have left them.
We all have bad days. We all face trials, deadlines, matters we’d prefer to avoid, times when we wish things were better than they are. Nobody is alone in going through that. But we all also have the ability to find our happy places, and to feel the joy and allow ourselves to experience them when we do.
Why do I want to walk a path of my own choosing? Because it’s not just about having control over my own destiny, it’s about finding what makes me happy in this life. I want a life of new things to learn, endless possibilities, joy and happiness. There are always experiences to be had. Having spent some quality time in one of my happy places, I think I have a better understanding of how great that can be.
Where are your happy places?
GOAL LOG – Week 6:
Diet: Still tracking what I am eating daily. Seeing I still need to give more consideration to my choices.
Exercise: Fencing happened, and got to the gym twice. Still need to exercise more frequently.
Writing: Five days of writing. Look at that, I met my goal last week.
I need to make more of this process.
This is the two-hundred sixteenth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.
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