So, as I thought about going to see Lucy, my long lost relative and the origin of humankind (refer to the last entry), I've been thinking about the origins of happiness. What made Lucy happy? My lack of knowledge about humans in that time period makes it hard to imagine what made her happy. However, in such a primal state, I would guess that having safety, food, and shelter for herself and her young was what made her happy. But as humans have evolved, we have developed other ways of finding happiness once our basic needs are met.
"I believe that satisfaction, joy and happiness are the ultimate purposes of life. And the basic sources of happiness are a good heart, compassion, and love." The Dalai Lama
Showing posts with label purpose of life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purpose of life. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Time between blogs--Loss of a Dream
Since I last wrote, I've been faced with the loss of a lifetime dream. I've seen my clients go through this on many occasions, watching it produce significant depression and sadness. Losing any dream is significant, but losing a dream you've had most of your life can be devastating.
My dream, like so many of my clients' dreams, was based on making the world a better place. Not that I don't feel I've contributed some to that. My profession gives me that opportunity and gift, a gift I am always so grateful for. But many times we have very specific ways we would like to achieve a dream. We've narrowed the dream down to being the most closely expressed way of fulfilling that dream. And I find that these specific ways of expressing the dream are based on our values and moral beliefs. They go to the core of who we are, and therefore, they are an expression of who we are. Unfortunately, those are the dreams, when lost, that make us question our purpose in life, the reason for our existence and even our worth.
I am so fortunate to have watched and helped assist my clients tackle these kinds of losses. They do it with such courage. I feel so blessed that they are willing to share that experience with me. So through my clients, I've learned to face my loss, accept my loss, move on and focus on achieving my dream, just not in the way I had planned.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making plans." Bob Dylan
My dream, like so many of my clients' dreams, was based on making the world a better place. Not that I don't feel I've contributed some to that. My profession gives me that opportunity and gift, a gift I am always so grateful for. But many times we have very specific ways we would like to achieve a dream. We've narrowed the dream down to being the most closely expressed way of fulfilling that dream. And I find that these specific ways of expressing the dream are based on our values and moral beliefs. They go to the core of who we are, and therefore, they are an expression of who we are. Unfortunately, those are the dreams, when lost, that make us question our purpose in life, the reason for our existence and even our worth.
I am so fortunate to have watched and helped assist my clients tackle these kinds of losses. They do it with such courage. I feel so blessed that they are willing to share that experience with me. So through my clients, I've learned to face my loss, accept my loss, move on and focus on achieving my dream, just not in the way I had planned.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making plans." Bob Dylan
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