“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do
are in harmony.”– Mahatma Gandhi
Okay. That one seemed relatively simple until I took a second look. Yesterday I talked about chronic situations that keep creeping back and stealing your peace. Let’s look at one in relation to this quote. Let’s pick the broken relationship because that’s probably the one that invades our peaceful existence and smashes it to smithereens at sometime in most our lives.
You lose someone. Now it starts. First you deny it. You pacify yourself with thoughts that it will get fixed. When a certain amount of time goes by and it doesn’t get fixed, you get angry. You start blaming the other person and citing all the different ways they hurt you. When the anger exhausts itself, the bargaining begins. You bargain with not only the person, but with God. If you fix it, I promise to ______(whatever) forever. When the bargaining produces no fruit, you are at the end of the road. Hopelessness sets in and the deep dive into depression begins. You wallow in the throws of depression by doing a lot of walking and wishing you could just sleep forever. Finally the depression lifts and a tiny light begins to grow in the darkness. Slowly you feel yourself climb out of the catacombs. You think: Wow! Finally. It’s over! The pain abates and you think you’re home free. Nope. Sorry. There’s still the state of acceptance to get through.
Now back to the quote. Why did it pack such a punch? Because throughout each stage of getting over your broken heart, did you not have a wonderful support system? Of course you did. And what did you do to them? Talked and talked and talked your way incessantly through each stage. You did a lot of saying. You told them exactly what you were going to do.
My biggest one was saying over and over I’d never contact that person again. Did I ever do what I said I’d do? Not even once. And therein lies the absence of my peace and harmony. I thought it. I said it. But I never did it.
So, dear people, if you THINK it, and you SAY it, please DO it and begin restoring your harmony. Take back your peace by following through on that which you know must be DONE. That’s mastering acceptance. The broken heart is finally repaired. Your friends are breathing a sigh of relief. You are moving on to other topics. You made it back to what happiness is according to Gandhi.
And so, as another day goes by, DO it, take that step back to restoring your peace and harmony, and…I have written.
I walk this walk and talk this talk daily as well. It only gets a little easier, but every bit helps.
Just don’t give up!