Last week we talked about our New Year’s Resolution:

 

I also mentioned how incredibly important this was in terms of our happiness.

Now I don’t think there’s a person out there that hasn’t heard the saying: “The journey is more important than the destination.” We sort of get what this means but the truth by which we live says, “not really- the outcome is more important”- so we have our attention focussed on the future and our happiness dependent on the outcome of the thing on which we are focussed.

You may have heard stories of Zen Masters that point to the truth that all moments are the same. It is the mind’s interpretation that makes it good or bad. If you dwell in being, then your happiness is derived in the experience of your infinite self and therefore not dependent on your mind’s movement. OK now that’s probably a bit much for us ‘mere mortals’.

So another way of looking at it is that the journey provides the opportunity to awaken. It is not what happens to you that is important, but what you become as a result of these experiences. If you agree that our sole purpose here on this planet is to find God or go beyond the limitations of our form, then most of what happens on a physical plane is of little consequence. And if indeed an occurrence could have provided an awakening then being focussed on the outcome may have prevented this wonderful opportunity.

So stopping to smell the roses not only pulls us out of our absorption into our minds, but also brings our attention on the journey itself, as opposed to an arbitrary destination or as Eckhart Tolle says; brings us into the present moment, the only real place in existence.

My main reason for making this our New Year’s Resolution on Tania’s Textbook is that no matter what it is you are seeking, working toward, manifesting, visualising or creating in 2018 or beyond to bring you happiness- it will not bring you happiness if the path to its attainment was not a happy one.

In other words, the path to its attainment is not a happy one if your focus is on the future and your happiness is dependent on the outcome. Your happiness has now been placed in the future, not happening now. It is not a happy one if you stressed, worried, became angry, anxious or depressed along the way. Most importantly for the purposes of this Blog, when you reach your desired outcome it will not bring you happiness no matter how much you believe it will. If it does it will be fleeting. Stopping to smell the roses is not only enjoying the journey but also brings your attention and focus to the present moment.

In the Spiritual Dimension, I mention that it is the energy you bring to the space of “now” that will be the best predictor of your future. So if you bring unhappiness to the space of “now” then even if you win a million dollars, you will not be or become happy. You might just have a better class of misery. So stopping and smelling the roses doesn’t mean that it will take longer to get to your destination, it means that whatever it is that you are putting energy into and action toward will in fact, bring you happiness because the journey toward it’s attainment was a happy one- and that’s why the journey is more important!

So if as followers of Tania’s Textbook you are serious about happiness, then in 2018 you must:

 

Stop and Smell the Roses

 Special Thanks to the lovely people at ‘The Swiss Rose Garden’ in Brookdale, Western Australia.

 

Photography by MDH