Small Simple life : Finding happiness

“The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. . . . The ordinary objects of human endeavour… property, outward success, luxury… have always seemed to me contemptible.” ~ Albert Einstein

find happiness

“Courage to face life cheerfully;” and its’ true; sometimes it does take courage. Courage to overcome the stress and pressure of modern life, courage to slow down and stop, courage to embrace the simple things in life that give us comfort and pleasure.

We tend to look outwards, spend our time searching and achieving, placing our hopes and desires in the future and never looking at the now. But everyday life is filled with pleasures, achievements, goodness and happiness. We need the courage to acknowledge the little things and detach ourselves from the idea that a cheerful, contented, happy life is something you need to achieve, to have, that it will be that way once we have money to burn, nice clothes, an expensive house, a flash car and so on.

Have courage to embrace the now, don’t give up on your dreams, but take time to enjoy the little blessings of everyday life.

In the end, each day is a gift and if we see time simply as a path to somewhere; we spend too much of our lives trying to get there and miss out on the small, simple, everyday joys of living.

Einstein looked to truth, goodness and beauty to give him courage, where can we find these same things in our lives:

Everyday Truth

Truth in our actions, in our beliefs, in our desires. To be truthful with one’s self is not always easy. How often do we take the time to sit down and decide truthfully what it is we want in life? When we look at our desires, are they real or fleeting? Are we truthful in our actions towards others? Do we act out of kindness and compassion? Consider what truly makes you happy, think about it hard, not just in the short term and not just what you want out of life but more importantly what you want in your life. True friends, true love, true desires and beliefs that we can found a happy, cheerful, positive life upon. Each person has different gaols, wants, needs and beliefs. Make sure you are truthful with your inner desires and create a life filled with the things that truly make you happy.

Everyday Goodness

We all have goodness in our hearts and it is shared around the world through good deeds, actions, thoughts and ideas. We can extend this goodness to encompass all aspects of our lives. Let goodness live in our heart always, let it live through our choices and actions and desires. Be good to others, the earth and ourselves. Recognize the things in life that are good and acknowledge the good in others. Find ways you can share or acknowledge goodness each day; it fills us with happiness and contentment. Goodness takes many forms; it can be a simple gesture of kindness, something you enjoy or doing something positive for yourself or others. Look at all the little things that are good in life, embrace these and acknowledge each little piece of goodness as a treasure in our lives.

Everyday Beauty

We live in a truly beautiful world and it can fill our life to the brim with joy and contentment. Look out the window each day and acknowledge the beautiful and amazing place we live in. Our world is full of beautiful life; nature, people and places that can inspire, bring joy, peace and a sense of belonging. Whether it be the flowers, the grass under our toes, the trees that line the streets or the sun shining through our windows, life is beautiful. Spend a little time with nature and a little less on rushing through life. Watch the clouds cross the sky, smell the roses and you find beauty everywhere you go.

Have the courage to overcome the things in life that bring us down, whatever that maybe.

By looking at all the things we already have that are true, good and beautiful it helps to face each day with little cheerfulness and courage. And honestly “the ordinary objects of human endeavour… property, outward success, luxury” may not be contemptible to each of us; we can decide on how important these things are to our happiness in life. If we look to truth, goodness and beauty, as well as these endeavours, we can fill our lives with a little more simple happiness, cheerfulness and enjoy life today, while we plan for tomorrow.

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"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." ~Hellen Keller

Tagged as: better future, choice, everyday life, happiness, modern life