Cultivating Joy
Success means so many different things to all people. For some success means accumulation of money and power, to some it means having a family that loves and supports them, and to others it is simply getting up in the morning and going about their day. From my perspective, success should only be measured internally and without comparison to others. We will only feel truly successful within our path if we are our own measuring stick by which we are growing within our lives. If we are forming the most authentic parts of our being, cultivating our personal decision making, and creating opportunities for critical thinking about ourselves, shouldn’t we also choose the best parts and develop ourselves within the most authentic and joyful parts of our being? These are the parts of ourselves that will make us feel successful and joyful within our own spectrum, which at the end of the day is the only one that matters within personal evolution. If you are thinking at this point that you’d like to grow the saddest, most inauthentic, and deceitful parts of your character, perhaps it's time you took yourself to the local used book seller purchase a copy of “Tucker Carlson: The Biography.”
For me, manifesting joy often comes through a choice of geography. Choice of location, for me, is tantamount to my overall mood, productivity, and my ability to live as authentically as possible. In defining who I was as a person, my awareness became that I had a great distaste for a lot of things that define busy cities. Traffic, Pollution (Noise, Air, Sight), and the general robotic nature of city life bothers me, and living there is innately tough for me. When living in large cities, I often found myself distracted, confused, and becoming less and less productive within my work. Again, getting back to the question of why and why not, in this case I made some very clear distinctions and decisions as to the direction of my happiness. I’ve made conscious decisions within my life that I live in a place of great natural beauty, that stimulates my natural penchant for productivity and harmony within my life. For me, the great beauty of simplicity, especially within nature, is a key driver to the positivity of my existence. It is perhaps my greatest view within this viewpoint, that by being in the geographically correct location, one can find themselves presented with the opportunities that they are seeking. If we are able to find the capacity to exploit the greatest benefit from the most positive aspects of our life, we should certainly try to use those situations to amplify our joy within our lives.
The cliche that best reflects this statement, is being in the right place at the right time. I’ve heard this cliche used to describe all manner of coincidence within people's lives, and it became quite clear to me that it was used to express an overwhelmingly positive experience. So, then, why would one not strive to always be in the right place at the right time, in order to experience the best possible outcomes within our lives. Let's briefly note that there are perhaps no “right and wrong” choices within this path, as long as you are acting authentically within yourself, and with awareness of self. I may choose to smoke, but if I do, I will do it in such a way that it won’t bother anyone that wouldn’t want to be subjected to the experience. It is that inherent understanding that, doing what you feel is right, within your own awareness as well as your awareness of the situation, can never really lead you down the wrong path. Perhaps you will learn lessons from your decisions, but as long as you are aware and monitoring your decisions actively, you will always feel fulfilled and successful, at least within your own configuration of life.
