DAILY ROAD TO HAPPINESS

Some years ago I was musing here on happiness and how elusive it is. I think that for the last two years I came closer and closer to its essence, after going through more work and romance related disappointments.  Serenity/inner peace is my main goal, fulfillment rather than comfort zone.  It's not about forcing your brain to think positive no matter what, it's about not judging and labeling positive and negative, understanding that only our perception of facts makes them one or the other thing. There's no good and bad weather, only pleasant and unpleasant, which is pretty subjective, according to our comfort zone.

Tavira Island, Algarve, South of Portugal

I'm trying to take life as it comes, understanding that there's only yin and yang, principles that complete each other, perception and lessons to be learned, ignorant and frightened people that hurt others because they don't love themselves. At work, on the street, during our social interactions, they are everywhere, moved by loneliness and repressed or misinterpreted emotions.

We talk a lot about people charged with negative energy, that drain us out of our own positive charge. The other day I was thinking that there are no positive or negative energies, only flowing and blocked ones, balance and imbalance. And of course that people who don't know how to unblock theirs would run to cheerful persons awkwardly trying to recharge themselves. I also become an energy vampire when I get obsessed with my own troubles, unable to hear the others, talking and talking and talking relentlessly. Brrr, what a drag!

At least I learned that my sources of energy could also be the outdoors, things I can make and do (cooking, swimming, dancing, hiking), tasty healthy food, or simply thinking and surrendering to the moment while being outside, also known as meditation. Observing all little things around us that make life joyful, like the cheerful supermarket cashier and kind drugstore employee that I met tonight, people that we mistake for vending machines a lot of times. Other great sources of joy and inner balance are my lonely walks, my time on the beach and the embrace of the rather cool Atlantic waters; I really don't need much more. 

How good it is to realize that I do live a comfortable life in a pleasant country, with mostly nice weather, beautiful landscapes, good yummy food, kind people, where I managed to make great international friends as usual, that teach me valuable lessons and help me become a better person. Now I just have to move my sexy ass and figure out how to do something valuable for this great place called world.