Make a date with delight…
Delight is the delicious taste we get when something good happens. Worries fade away, frustration evaporates, and anger disappears when a baby is safely born or a friend passes their exams, when a problem is solved or a conflict resolved.
Delight opens the heart.
Delight can change our minds and change our lives. It is a tonic that relieves the pain of envy. It brings us closer to the people we love and eases the difficulties we have with those people who are further away from us.
It makes such good sense to practice the art of rejoicing that it is sometimes strange we often overlook it.
Why is bad news sometimes more compelling than good news?
Why are we tempted to dwell on what is going wrong rather than what is going right?
One drags us down, the other lifts us up.
We have a choice about what to feed our heart and mind. If we can learn to dwell on positive stories and accomplishments we can quickly bring more happiness into the lives of ourselves and others.
CHALLENGE
Find a quiet space where you can relax. Sit comfortably. To help you settle, focus your awareness on your breathing. Try to let go of any thoughts, images or feelings that arise. Whenever you become distracted, bring your awareness gently back to the sensation of the breath going in and out. Spend a few minutes enjoying the experience of coming to rest.
Start by rejoicing in all the good things you have done in the past. Think of the positive qualities that you have inside of you – such as kindness, patience and generosity – and the occasions when you have used those qualities to help others. Taste the warmth of appreciation. Silently say to yourself “how wonderful it is; how wonderful it is.”
Gradually broaden your sphere of intention to include the people you feel close to. Rejoice at all their positive qualities and the different ways in which they care for you and each other. Be as specific as you can. Enjoy the sensation of delight. “How wonderful it is; how wonderful it is.”
Move your attention further outwards and rejoice in all the caring actions that are taking place right now between people you may have never met: teachers in schools, medical staff in hospitals, parents in the home, colleagues at work.
Think about the people who campaign for a better world in areas such as justice, equality, peace, poverty or the environment. Recall their contribution. “How wonderful it is; how wonderful it is.”
Finally, see if you can rejoice at all the good things that you and others have done, are doing, and will do in the future. Can you extend this feeling of warmth throughout the whole universe, beyond the bounds of time and space? “How wonderful it is; how wonderful it is.”
What would happen if you rejoiced like this on a regular basis?
Close with the wish ‘May all beings be happy!’
Want to know more about how to live a happier life? Click here for details about our online course (only £15 through January 2019) or click here to learn how and when you can next join us for one of our Finding Your Happy workshops.
