We all spend most of our life looking for happiness, peace and satisfaction.
Our society offers us an enormous number of promises for contentment: material things, powerful positions, fame, good looks and money. But, do we stop for a moment to reflect where is the real happiness? Should we look for it outside… or inside?
Many of us spend a great amount of time and energy accumulating “outer wealth” in the illusion of the pleasure and joy that comes from it. Because that contentment is partial and does not last long, we get caught in the race of more and better – always wishing to finally grasp that happiness.
Sadly, that dynamic leaves us without much energy and time to cultivate real inner wealth like compassion and gratitude. Inner wealth is an asset. When it is present in the form of peace, gratitude and satisfaction, we can experience sadness or live difficult times, but our mind can be contented.
Frequently, it is only when we have been through a traumatic experience, or perhaps a religious one, that we reach a shifting point that redirects our attention to our inner world. Then, we change our perspective and start formulating some powerful questions: What’s the purpose of my life? Why am I here?
It is then when the practice of Mindfulness offers a path to reconnect with the fullness of our existence and to listen to the truthful answers that arise from our inner voice. Unavoidably, we start to know ourselves and find an inner space of deep wisdom .
From the Mindfulness perspective, we all have the internal capacity to grow and heal. However, we are able to find the path to reconnect with it, in order to discover the authentic answers to our existential quest.
Mindfulness formal practices invites us to sit quietly and train our attention to be in the present moment. The more we skilfully let the thoughts about future and past go and redirect our awareness to “this moment”, the more we rediscover who we really are, and what we really want.
Being able to mindfully inhabit the present enables us to find a broad spectrum of possible responses to our experiences. Then, we can see clearly what is the best for us, moment by moment, while being authentic to our true self.
