My husband and I love to watch a good documentary at night and recently we have been watching Pole to Pole with Will Smith (National Geographic.) It is absolutely an amazing tour of the extremes of our world from the South Pole to the North Pole! In the 4th episode, called The Secret of Happiness, Will visits the Kingdom of Bhutan in the Himalayas, a country that has a national focus on happiness that is measured by something called GNH – Gross National Happiness. In this episode he is guided by a happiness expert to see what makes this country happy and what that might mean to the rest of us, and it really got me thinking! People are getting richer and living longer but our sense of well-being is going down. So how do we get that happiness back into our lives?
Do you have a purpose and meaning in life? Sometimes we are so focused on other’s perception of us, it takes away from what our real meaning is in life. The search for our purpose in life is a complex journey but also a truly personal journey. Maybe we should spend more time enjoying our everyday life instead of worrying about our “grand purpose” in life.
Everything happens for a reason, but we need to stop worrying when something doesn’t work the way we want. Trying to make something work that can cause us to be moving away from happiness. Bad moments should not define us but instead focus on what truly lights you up and really contributes to your well-being.
During this episode, they ask Will to consider the question of “When will I die?” By turning your attention to the idea of your death, you might contemplate what is important and what is not important! That sounds extreme but by putting it in that context you realize what is really important to you in life. Remember that old saying that you will never be lying on your death bed wishing that you had worked more? By considering death, it actually might help you get back on the happiness path!
Sharpen your sense of what really matters to find happiness! Be yourself…flawed and staring down your fears…which may give you a true sense of freedom. If you aren’t going to care about it on your death bed, don’t worry about it now!
