What is it that you seek? If you could give up everything you owned in this world to achieve this 'one goal', this one ultimate elixir of life, what would it be?
For most, the answer would be unadulterated crystal clear pure decadant happiness.
Next question, how do I get there?
One of the most important things I have learnt so far to get to this state of eternal bliss is to keep expectations of others low – to the bare minimum. When you have expectations, you have preconceived ideas of what the outcome of a particular situation should be. The lower you place the 'bar' of your expectations, the easier it will be for you to get over it and move forward. Ever had the joy of looking into your wallet and discovering the ten bucks you thought you had spent? Why does this make us happy? It is because we weren't expecting the money to be there. The same goes for receiving a call from a friend you haven't spoken to in years. Now let us reverse the situation. How many of us have been let down on occasion by our own expectations of others? I know I have. Spent hours by the phone waiting for a call; spent months complaining about a job; spent years comparing my achievements to those of others. For a long long time, I've held others responsible for my happiness. This is like hoping someone else would give me some sugar to sweeten my tea while it is still hot. It seems almost juvenile if we think of expectations in this way.
When you are free of expectations, you are open to all outcomes that life has to offer. This becomes a win-win situation for the pursuit of happiness. This is like saying, "I know I need sugar for my tea, I'm going to find some myself." If along the way, I find a kind soul who could spare some sugar cubes for me, it would be great. It would be even more awesome if I could find someone to always do this for me, but life isn't a bag of free sugar cubes.
One thing I have learnt is that the recipe to my nirvana is known only to me. Only I can make this and only then can I be truly satisfied. Although I do not know the complete recipe to mine yet, I know have some ingredients. Sure, I could ask someone to make this potion for me. Sure, I could borrow your recipe and tweak it. The end result must be mine. Only I know if I'm craving savory or sugary, spicy or umami.
The question is,
"Do I want to take the effort to whip up this delicious scrumptious piece of nirvana or am I willing to settle for a store-bought generic version?"
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