“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” – Lao-Tzu

Why Happiness Isn’t Out There

What is the meaning of life? Our life? This is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves at least once, if not many times, in our life. Today, right now, what is your answer? Many people say peace, happiness. These are states of being I beleive connect us to the force of Love flowing through all living beings of the universe. They are powerful states of being and often times are all too fleeting despite our best efforts to maintain them in our lives. Why is this?

We have the relationships we nurture, children we raise., pets we take care of, and friends we make time for. These people in our life may be happy but they are not our happiness. We have the cars we drive, TVs we watch, and houses we live in. The clothes we dress ourselves with, cologne we wear, and shoes we buy. These things we buy may be sanctuaries of peace but they are not our peace. Happiness and peace exist all around us but the happiness and peace that lasts forever only exist inside us. It is found by following the voice in our heart that knows who we are and what we want.

When we do things for others, even acts of love, but go against our heart’s voice we take away our feeling of happiness. When we buy things for ourselves but our heart doesn’t want them we take away our feeling of peace. When we go out with friends who don’t have our best interests at heart we come back more empty than when we left. When we spend away our hearts goals and dreams we push away peace farther than we can reach next time we try.

Take away everything you tell yourself you want. Everything you tell yourself will make you happy.  Now think not with your head, but feel the longing in heart. Spend 5 minutes every day feeling the longing in your heart and you will find lasting happiness. You will find lasting peace. Our heart and soul only crave one thing and that one thing is Love. Our potential for eternal Peace, Love, and Happiness begins by Loving ourselves.

This post was written by Aaron Aslin. Aaron is a philosopher, blogger, and entrepreneur. He uses his background in marketing to bring people to ideas that inspire, motivate, and create purpose in their lives. You can connect with him on twitter @aaronaslin and facebook.com/aaronaslin