i know the Advent Season is well and truly over and we are into the new energy of 2012 - but I thought this metaphor of the Advent Calendar that my friend Tulku-Rose used this morning about life was too good not to share immediately.
If you are not familiar with the Christian tradition, an Advent Calendar is a special pre-Christmas 'calendar', often presented to children, who enjoy the excitement of opening a new little box each day and revealing its hidden treasure in the lead up from 1 to 25 December.
So how is life like an Advent Calendar?
Here are three suggestions:
Greet each day with 'beginner's mind'
I remember (seems several life times ago!) peeling open each box in my Advent Calendar with a sense of excitement and curiosity, just wondering what lay behind the little cardboard 'door'. With an adult's experience, it can be hard at times to access that naive sense of joy, yet if we are to 'invite happiness', remembering and recapturing that emotion is worth practicing.
Savour each experience
I remember as a child, thinking over the little pictures and symbols revealed and feeling a simple pleasure in doing this. How many simple pleasures do we take for granted as adults. The pleasure of a hot shower? A good meal? (specially if cooked by someone else!) An inspiring movie?
We always have a choice: to focus on and savour the positive potential of each moment that can lead to something new or to ruminate and chew on past disappointments that can't be changed.
Inviting happiness may be simple: it is certainly not always easy. But we do have the choice.
Be prepared to be surprised!
Be prepared to be surprised - and delighted.
A lot of this happiness stuff is about 'preparation'. As a child, I didn't need much preparation: I was continually - like all of us - imbibing new surprising happenings. And taking them largely for granted as at that stage I had nothing to compare them too. No particular expectations.
But as an adult, I find I have many expectations, and that quite a few of these expectations can be extremely non-productive! So the game is more about letting go of unproductive expectations and allowing myself the luxury of being surprised and delighted by the small miracles of daily life.
In this new energy of 2012, I wish you well. May the weeks and months open up to you like a series of Advent Calendar windows, filled with pleasant surprises and delights.
Let's invite more happiness,
Justus Lewis
PS Peggy Phoenix Dubro will be presenting her latest seminar, Reflections: Channelling the energy of grace and wholeness in Melbourne on Monday 19 March. This is an opportunity to hear this gifted teacher live, and learn more about the practice of inviting wholeness and joy (a variation of happiness) into our own and others' lives. For more information, please visit www.emfmelb.com.
