You can enjoy a happy life
if you accept that adversity; pain and grief
are natural parts of being.
Take action to address injuries, insults and injustices
while they are emerging and developing
because what is small and sprouting
can be corrected easily with little effort and disturbance.
Do not obsess to maintain order
otherwise disorder will grow in magnitude.
Take one step at a time.
Life is not about what should or should not be.
If you get caught up in fear, desire and the instinct to survive
you will give up everything for an idealized life
that always remains unreachable.
Depriving you of an authentic self.
Survival is only temporary.
Today is all you have, live it joyfully.
Do not attach an emotional importance to a goal.
It will become the source of doubt; anxiety, stress and worry.
Transforming it into a looming and distant dream.
Instead detach from the outcome; a goal is not an ultimate destination.
It is a direction; start walking towards it.
Whatever you think the prerequisites are to enjoy a happy life,
is the source of your disappointments; regrets and sorrows.
The more you hold onto the image of an ideal life
the more flawed your life will seem.
and the unhappier you will become.
Do not react to the world or the people around you.
Connect with happiness and let it guide your actions.
Life is a dynamic process and mistakes are a natural growing process.
Resist the urge to intervene.
What you think is “good” stem from your own biases; desires and fears.
As you grow; evolve and let go, the world transforms and changes.
Greed will undeniably ruin your life.
Refrain from obsessively holding unto anything.
Be attentive throughout each phase of the journey
to prevent misfortune and unintended consequences.
Nothing is pertinent or permanent.
Happiness is an inner state of being.
It does not depend upon the outside world.
You can enjoy a happy life.
HopeAlley
Inspired by Chapter 64 of the Toa Te Ching