Pathwalking 79
I have stated many times that Pathwalking is about choice. And part of the reason to make that choice is in order to find happiness.
Why is being happy so important?
What it all boils down to is energy. Once more, EVERYTHING is energy. It cannot be created nor destroyed, but it takes on different forms and shapes. Energy is subject to laws of science and nature in every discipline. One of these laws is that like attracts like. Ergo, negative attracts negative, and positive attracts positive.
When you are unhappy, what generally happens? Do you find that more things crop up to add to your displeasure? Do you find people around you also complaining about their lack of happiness? Do you encounter more and more people, situations and events that do not make you happy?
When you are happy, what generally happens? Do you find that more things crop up to add to your pleasure? Do you find people around you also expressing things they are happy with? Do you encounter more and more people, situations and events that make you happy?
I am aware these are generalizations…but for the most part, are they wrong? In my own experience they are not. When I am unhappy, unless I actively seek out things to make myself feel otherwise, I will discover added unhappiness. I will become more and more negative, more and more down, and it will take a great deal of work to turn it around.
Conversely, when I am happy, I can discover more things that will make me happy. I become more positive, more up, and while there is work to remain in this state, it is easier work than its opposite. Being happy is a good feeling…and part of the human condition is to seek out things that make us feel good.
I will not deny that it is impossible to ALWAYS be happy. A part of human nature is that we experience such dualities of emotion, and so we will experience things that do NOT make us happy. But as with all things Pathwalking, we can choose whether or not to dwell in our unhappiness, or seek a means to move past it.
We all know somebody who likes to be miserable. We have no doubt that that person appears to take pleasure in constantly complaining, always fussing, never expressing any happiness. And while on the one hand we might be somewhat amused by that person and his or her antics, on the other hand we feel sorry for them.
Why do we feel sorry for them? Because we seek things that make us feel good, that make us happy. We do not dwell in misery or those things opposite happiness. At least, we do not dwell there all the time.
Yet we do not often enough make choices about how we are feeling, and instead “roll with the punches” or “go with the flow” or “let the chips fall where they may” or just generally let things run their course. Once again, Pathwalking is about acknowledging our ability to choose. And one of those choices, constantly, is choosing how we allow ourselves to feel.
I believe that we want to feel good. We want to feel pleasant things, we want to experience joy and bliss and happiness. Everything we do is designed to garner those positive feelings. We go to school to get an education to learn to do things so that we may, after the time we are dependent on our parents for our happiness, know how to find it for ourselves. We go to work to earn money so that we can have and do the things that we think will bring us happiness.
Why else do we have possessions? Yes, you can argue that there are things that we buy out of necessity, that we NEED food and shelter and other basics. But I do not know anyone who ONLY wants the most basic “things” along the way, they want specific things because they think in the having of those things, they will find happiness.
I am not decrying materialism here, it should be noted. I certainly have my share of toys that DO, in their own way, bring me happiness. My point is no less valid. Happiness is the end goal of the things we do in life. And rather than deny its importance or sweep that under the proverbial rug, we should embrace it. This is very much what Pathwalking is all about.
Can you see the importance of finding happiness?
This is the seventy-ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
The first year of Pathwalking is available in print and for your Kindle.
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