Introduction and the Search for Happiness

Ever since I can remember, it feels like I have been searching for something. Love. Wealth, Money, the meaning of life, God. This led me on a path of reading many self-improvement books in my teens, along with having my heart broken and experiencing the ups and downs of horse racing and the stock exchange. I also delved into the new age movement, yoga and meditation. In my late twenties I started moving away from eating meat.

I like to voice my opinion when I am confident I am informed enough to make a judgement. I also consider myself intuitive and the internet provides us with access to the world’s knowledge making it so much easier to educate ourselves. The main areas that interest me (in no particular order) and I will be covering in this blog are the following:-

Relationships (Psychology, BDSM)
Finance/economy (Investing, wealth creation)
Health & wellness (Exercise and vegan/vegetarianism)
Spirituality (Christianity, meditation)
Truth Seeking (Sorting through the conspiracy theories)
Travelling (Experiencing the world & different cultures)
Entertainment( Movies, Music, TV, Live theatre, Reading)

It is my intention to my thoughts & videos I find that strike a chord with me. primarily on these topics, or whatever else is occupying my mind on the day. I also welcome your feedback good or bad and anhy topics you would like me to cover.

For my first post, I thought I would take a big picture approach and talk about happiness. Everybody wants to be happy. This desire to be happy dictates most of our decision making.

When I was in Bangkok I took a river cruise in a long tail boat and along the river encountered a group of young children playing in the dirty river water outside their family’s shanty. They were having so much fun and seemed to be without a care in the world. And I thought to myself, even at that age, how can they be so happy considering their abject poverty. Looking back, I see that they would have known no other life outside poverty and were living in the moment. What would I give to be as mindful as those children.

In my life, like many of us, I have experienced a lot of down times. It would be wrong to call it depression but more like a general unhappiness of how my life was going. It is my experience that regardless of my situation, financially, emotionally etc. if I feel I am going forward with purpose I am happy. If I feel I am going backwards with a lack of purpose then the self- doubts, self- loathing and negativity will overwhelm me. So for me, having a purpose and progressing in life are requirements for happiness.

I think of it like a ladder extending all the way from earth up to heaven. Regardless of which rung I am standing on. if I take a step forward I am happy. If I take a step backward and self- doubt arises I become unhappy.

I have thought a lot about what I can do to overcome this dilemma when quite fortuitously, I came across a quote while writing this Blog. “Live for what tomorrow has to offer you and not what yesterday has taken away”. This quote resonates with hope and optimism and immediately put me in a positive mind set, despite not having a defined goal or purpose in life at the moment.

Until next time.

P