Happiness

Oh Dear, it's happened once again, hasn't it. A month has gone and run away with me and I haven't posted a single solitary word, although a single solitary word really wouldn't make for the most satisfying post! The sub-heading of my blog (updated bi-monthly) just keeps coming to fruition. It's been a very busy month for me, as I'm sure it has for all of us, with lots going on both externally and internally. I've seen four concerts, all of which I still intend to write up in full at some point. We saw the Foo Fighters right after I last posted, then in the last week alone we saw John Butler Trio, Less than Jake and Blackalicious. We've also had a busy few weeks at work, what with performing two different programs, one a full length Nutcracker and the other a mixed bill of contemporary work, as well as getting things together for the tour of Germany. We finished last Friday and start back next Wednesday, when we will have about a week of rehearsals before flying to Germany for a big two weeks of travelling and performing. After that, of course, comes the main event, two weeks in London Baby, yeah!!!
Hmmm, I now find myself with the dilemma of catching up on all the things I wanted to post about but didn't over the last few weeks. There was also my very good friend Tama's leaving celebrations, as he is heading over to Europe early in January to audition for companies there. It was a farewell that was not as emotional as it might have been as he will be coming to stay with us in London when we are there, so it didn't feel like such a big deal. It was a beautiful weekend though, and I will write more about it, just not right now. I just wanted to post a little post to say hey, if anyone's still reading this! I also just wanted to get the ball rolling again and try and get myself back into posting. We'll be spending the week at Lisa's parents house in Dubbo, hopefully just taking it easy. I intend to do yoga every day, having so regretfully neglected my practice for the greater part of this year, and post a lot.
One thing that I did want to write about right now is a thought that I've been having lately, and that is that everything we want to have and be in our lives, we have to work for. I've been thinking about this particularly with regards to being happy. I think that I've always thought that being happy was just something that you are. You're a happy person or you're not. Things are going well in your life and you're happy, or they're not and you're not. Furthermore I figured that you remedied this by working to make things work out so that life was always going pretty well and you could be happy. Now some of you are probably thinking well DUH!! I know it seems obvious to say, and I probably could have told you before that happiness is not dependent on any external circumstance, I've read a whole lot of books that say that too. To really have the realisation, though, well that's another thing altogether. So this is thought of the day; Happiness is not something that happens to you, or something that you are, it's something that you commit to cultivating in your life, and in your heart. The reason for this is that there is a demon in all of us, even the most happy-go-lucky, free spirited people, that is just waiting for a reason to surface. Even if you are one of those 'naturally happy' people something really tragic could happen and bring all that you believed in crashing right down around you and you could become one of those people who have something sad happen in their lives and they become the survivor, the martyr. Are you following me? If, however, you are committed to being happy, to seeing the good side in things, to working at it every single day, nothing can happen to you that will derail you. Sure you'll be sad too, that's part of life. In fact, as I've said a thousand times before, as you experience greater happiness, so will you experience greater sadness, but that'll be OK, because your ultimate goal is happiness, or perhaps a better word would be peace. You are at peace. You get sad, you get happy, but all the while you're at peace with the world, and you don't cling to one thing or the other. You don't have to be happy, but you don't cling to sadness and the bad things that have happened to you in life either.
I haven't written this entirely from my own inspiration. The thoughts have been forming over the last few weeks, and kind of crystallised over the last couple of days, but as they did, things kept popping into my head, like the part of Max Ehrmann's Desiderata that says, "Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune, But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings, Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself." God I love that. You could live your whole life well just by sticking to the principles contained in its' few verses. Another thing that I thought of was a post that the ever wonderful Spencer Steel's wrote a couple of weeks ago. You can see it

here

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So now you've heard people say what I was trying to say a whole lot better, I'll let you go. I should probably have just skipped my babbling and gotten straight to the good stuff! I hope you see what I mean though, as it has been a real revelation to me, as a part of a whole load of things that I've been thinking about with a view to improving my life and growing to be a better person. I will write more, but for now, know that I'm thinking of you and love you all very much. Take good care of yourselves now xxxxx