Happy Now

In a recent podcast interview with Rich Roll, Light Watkins, a writer and meditation teacher, talks about how we often think of happiness in acquisitive terms. If I only achieve this, if I only get this, then I will be happy. However, he makes a point that you are only going to be as happy as you are right now. Once you acquire the thing that you thought would make you happier, you will soon go back to feeling the way you usually do.

You are only going to be as happy as you are now. This has become a mantra of sorts for me lately whenever I feel dissatisfied. Instead of making me feel discouraged or nihilistic that I am never going to feel better than the way I do now, this mantra reminds me to be more aware of the present moment. It reminds me to do what I am doing, whatever it is, mindfully. If this is as good as it will get, I don’t want to miss a second of it. I want to enjoy it with unwavering attention. My greediness for the happiness that supposedly resides in the present moment motivates me to be in that moment as much as possible. It’s funny how the characteristics of human nature that typically bring us suffering, such as greediness, sometimes place us on a healthier path. 

This coming back to the present moment dispels the dissatisfaction that I started with and I strangely feel content. I don’t think about how I was feeling before nor what future challenges are waiting for me. I am content right now. This contentment, I realize, is the happiness that had seemed so elusive.