7 reasons why pursuing happiness is the least selfish thing you can do
June 19, 2013
To be honest…
As I sit down all snug-style (cross-legged on my yoga block) to write this, there’s a lil’ bit of underlying tension beneath the surface.
I said ‘no’ the other day. And not just any day. Father’s Day.
I said ‘no’ to dinner with my in-laws. And they’re fabulous. Like, big-meat-eaters who cook veggie-friendly when I’m there fabulous. Who lend us their kayak, help us get a good deal on a great car, and pitch in whenever they can to help fabulous. On my recent moving day, they pretty much moved my entire apartment.
And I still said ‘no.’
What with event hosting, speaking, workshop-teaching, lunch and learns, life coaching, yoga teaching, wedding planning and moving all wrapped up in one big bouquet of blossoming life things have been more than a bit busy. I get to love everything I’m doing, and do everything I love…and sometimes it’s freakin’ exhausting.
So I said ‘no.’
When saying no is actually saying yes…
Because saying ‘no’ to the dinner invite felt like saying ‘yes’–to me. Because when I sat with the choice of going for dinner or staying home and watching Devil Wears Prada (for the third time) the movie felt like relief and going felt like tension. I knew that my essential self was begging me to take a break from busy, to cocoon inside my cozy chair, and sink away from the world for a while. Even though my social self said “You should go.”
I said ‘no’ because saying ‘yes’ to me is important. And it made me nearly deliriously happy.
7 Reasons Why Pursuing Happiness is the Least Selfish Thing You Can Do
1. We can’t keep going if we never stop.
2. We’re not here to make sure other people are happy–we’re here to help them find it within themselves.
3. If we don’t let ourselves have what we need, we won’t be able to let others have what they need.
4. One of the best gifts we can give people is permission to pursue what makes them happy.
5. One of the best ways we can give them that is by demonstrating it ourselves.
6. Happiness isn’t small stuff, it’s cosmic. Joy is the highest spiritual state of being. And getting there is your dharma.
7. To light other people’s lives, we first need to ignite our own.
Ah. That’s better. Underlying tension be gone.
xL
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