“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends on what we look for. What we look for depends on what we think. What we think depends on what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. What we take to be true is our reality.”
David Bohm
Sometimes forgotten treasures illuminate my life, like the vibrant palette nature uses in the fall, and I’m reminded that the easiest way to count my blessings is to make my blessings count. Summer’s abundance starts to moulder in the fall, but seeds are always being sown. We cannot have the glorious bounty of the harvest without autumn, winter and spring. By the end of the year we’ve often overlooked the simple fact that we’ve received much more than we’ve given.
If everything that happens to us is a reflection of what we believe about ourselves, we can create our own reality. The best thing we can do for each other and the world is to to be happy ourselves and by doing so create a cosmography of luminous humanity. All too often we focus on what we don’t have and, therefore, we will never have enough, rather than focusing on what we do have, which is plenty. I think what separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude and I know I’m deeply grateful for my life, a gift neither merited nor dreamed.
By creating well being within ourselves we create well being in others, giving a delicate embrace of belonging. Is all we need, then – LOVE? For the cynically inclined, maybe love isn’t all we need, but how lucky are we to have such an amazing capacity of feeling in all of its dimensions from passionate love to friendship, charity, sympathy and regard?
This fall I’m going to make my blessings count even more than before. I’m not going to wait to be sick before I’m grateful for health. I’m not going to have to be in trouble before I realize how necessary friendship and love are. When I have a problem with a loved one, a friend or stranger I will try my best to behave benevolently, compassionately, and sincerely. I’m not going to ask, “What would Jesus do or what would Buddha do?” I’m simply going to ask, “What is the loving thing to do?”
The Physics of Happiness
Life in the open air.
Love for another being.
Freedom from ambition.
Creation.
Albert Camus