It all begins with...

Happiness.

A few weeks back, I woke up to a gorgeous summer morning. Finished my yoga, Kriya and meditation, and left for work. It was one of those magical mornings when everything seemed just perfect. My meditation was peaceful and I felt a deep sense of rest and calm inside. As I was driving to work, such happiness soared inside of me. The sheer joie de vivre, simply translated as the 'joy of living' bubbled up in my heart. Soon after, my mind began its regular litany of doubt and scolding. "What are you so happy about? Don't you remember how much needs to be done? You need to answer that email to your adviser. The prospectus draft needs to be sent out. And what about that article you were supposed to finish? The kitchen is such a mess. And that bathroom really needs to be cleaned." And so on it went on.

This is a familiar cycle. Whenever I experience this wonderful happiness - a feeling that truly comes out of nowhere really - my mind begins to question it. It is almost as if I need a legitimate reason to be happy or else my mind will not be satisfied.

This time, I thought about it a little more. I could not discern any source for this wonderful feeling; it really came out of nowhere. There are so many moments in life when we experience this beautiful joy and we know not where it comes from. Yet it is a powerful emotion (if that's what you want to call it). Out of happiness is born creativity, compassion, generosity, beauty. We often believe that happiness lies at the end of something. After completing a successful project, after acquiring a job, at the completion of an assignment, at the culmination of a responsibility and so on. What we typically experience at the end of these events - hmmm, I would probably call it relief, maybe? But joy and happiness are those lovely emotions that really don't owe their existence to any event or happening. They just are. 

So the next time, you experience that sheer joie de vivre, don't let your mind poke holes in it. Enjoy it, fly with it, share it freely... and see what miracles spring out of it.