We live in a day where skepticism is celebrated; where pessimism is considered realism.
The idea prevails that life is miserable; and that a wise practitioner will choose to expect disappointment and give up entirely on the possibility of joy in this life.
This entry is to suggest the idea that life is a joy; that greater knowledge is actually the catalyst for happiness — that the common proverb “ignorance is bliss” is full of folly, and that a true understanding of reality would bring only an abundance of peace, joy, purpose, and love into your life.
In this series we will explore principles backing the idea that happiness and joy are the true default, and that joy is a natural process that can be studied and replicated. As a dear friend of mine once said: “It’s all just physics”.
Joy is a matter of subtraction not addition.
In all your reading, it is important to remember that truth is truth — whether it comes from a professional, religious, political, or personal source, it is either true, or not true. In other words: everything that is true, is just as true as everything else that is true; and everything that is false, is just as false as everything else that is false.
The reason this is mentioned in a series written to teach joy, is because comprehension of reality is essential in the pursuit of happiness. It wouldn’t be far off to say that every sadness experienced in life is because of a lie in some direction.
If I were called to define happiness, put simply, I would say: “Happiness is the emotional state of someone living in harmony with reality.”
This being the case, it would be essential for a practitioner to accurately perceive reality in order to consciously live in harmony with it. In other words: accurate perception of reality makes it possible for someone to experience true joy.
We live in a world full of segregation. We tend to separate our lives into multiple different worlds: work life, school life, family life, friend life etc. This segregated outlook on life tends to create double standards and moral dilemmas that confuse the subconscious mind —especially when the standard of morality excepted within school life may directly contradict the standards of morality accepted in family or political life.
Because of these split worlds, it is not uncommon for someone to lead a double or even triple life; they may live according to one set of morals from 9am to 3pm, and another entirely from 3pm to 11pm.
This moral contradiction is the opposite of harmony, and thus causes mental, emotional, and even physical stress, which results in perceived sadness, the opposite of joy.
Let’s repeat our definition of happiness: “Happiness is the emotional state of someone living in harmony with reality.”
Remember also that accurate perception of reality is essential for someone to live in harmony with it.
The problem with segregated worlds and opposing morals is that it creates contradicting perceptions of reality. In which case one or both perceptions are sure to be inaccurate —because reality does not contradict itself; it either is or is not.
Seneca once said, “We suffer more in imagination than we do in reality.” This is true on the phycological level, and it may be deduced that the fabric of reality itself does not even have the ability to provide you with as many difficulties as you may commonly worry about. Probably not even a tenth of them.
This is mentioned because fear is the primary force that keeps people from accepting reality. Once fear is gone, reality becomes accurately perceptible.
The irony involved is that inaccurate perception of reality creates the possibility for more fear, which may create a compounding loop. Fortunately, the compounding loop works in both directions.
The last thing I’ll share in this entry is a powerful truth that may be used to change the direction of a negative compound loop. If you are caught in a cycle of fear, then remember this:
It is in the corruption of our language that all deception occurs.
Read that again.
Choose to take every single word you speak, write, read or hear literally, and watch the lies in your life melt away.
Question at least one word this week, and watch how your perception of reality shifts, and note the emotional shift it carries.
If followed, this level of commitment to truth will land you in happier states than you imagined possible.
By: Hudson Roberts ©
P.S. If you have fear, then you are perceiving reality inaccurately.
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