Happiness as a balloon.

What is happiness?

Happiness is that deep satisfaction of content, peace, and not suffering. Happiness is not dependent on external things that happen to you. Happiness is the calm and peace you feel in spite of the storm that may be around you. Happiness is different than pleasure. Happiness fuels itself and grows on itself. Pleasure needs external objects to fuel it and implodes on itself if there is too much at once. Happiness is gently held. Pleasure is grasped onto and tightly held.

Imagine for a minute that happiness was a balloon

Everyone has a balloon but it is not effective until it’s blown up.

Everyone has the path to happiness but it's not effective until they find it inside them.

Some people can’t find their balloon so they have pictures of balloons on their wall. They have books about how to make the most of their balloon, but some of them never seek to find their own balloon.

Some people hide behind balloon–shaped masks, made of pictures of balloons. They may spend all their time convincing themselves that it’s a real balloon. But deep down they know it’s not.

Some people will spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars buying what a 25c balloon can do better.

Some people try to put money into their balloon.

Some people drape their balloons over cars and their houses.

Some people blow up their balloon a little, then when it gets to the hard bit they give up.

Some people poke holes in their balloons and then complain that they never get their balloon to work no matter how hard they try, as they continue to poke holes in their balloons.

Sometimes your balloon will pop or shrink over time. Some people think that is what they deserve. That they are doomed to carry a popped balloon around forever. Sometimes they even see the ones that would work, but still hold the broken one tightly in their hands and can't let the old balloon go to get the new one.

Some people throw their flat balloon to the sky hoping that the winds of the universe will find a way to blow the balloon up.

Some people say “The only way I will get a balloon is getting someone else to make one for me and then to blow it up . That way when it goes down I can say it's not because of me, its because they blew it up".

"It’s their fault”.

Some people give their balloon to others to blow up and when they don’t they say “look, that person took my balloon. It’s their fault that I don’t have my balloon".

And some people gently give their balloon away fully blown with kindness and without expecting the balloon to be returned to them. Some people will take them… and some won’t.

Some people hold the balloon in their hand and say “ I deserve this balloon".. and some people never see what they deserve.

Yet others will read this and think " Thank god none of these apply to me" and continue to be as they are.

Yet some people blow their balloon up.

And they find the purpose for their balloon and they don’t look at things or situations to depend on to make their balloon work.

They don’t spend lots of money to replace a 25c balloon. They don’t own their balloon because they blew it up but freely give it away and blow up another for themselves. Other people don’t blow up their balloon for them they did it themselves.

When their balloon pops or shrinks because of ‘hard times’ they either blow it up again or get another balloon. They have a huge supply of balloons that they can use anytime regardless of what’s around them.

They know the difference between a real balloon and a fake balloon.

We all have that same supply of balloons at our disposal.

If you can’t find it, look with softer eyes

It's always there

It's not what happens to us, it's how we see it.

Happiness is always ever going to start with us. It's also going to end with us.

Which way will you choose to go?

That is what happiness is.

Namaste

Andre