if you want to get happy: practice it!
“Melete to pan” “μελέτη τὸ πᾶν” — “Pains and industry effect every thing” spoken 2600 years ago, by Periander one of the seven wise men of Greece meaning: Persevering industry can achieve all things that are not utterly impossible.
If you want to get good at football: you have to practice.
If you want to get good at stress-FREEDOM: you have to practice.
If you want to get good at happiness: you have to practice.
Epicurus knew this 2300 years ago:
Practice these teachings daily and nightly. Study them on your own or in the company of a like-minded friend, and you shall not be disturbed while awake or asleep. You shall live like a god among men, because one whose life is fortified by immortal blessings in no way resembles a mortal being. (From ‘Letter to Menoeceus’ by Epicurus)
His followers kept on practicing stress-FREEDOM in their circles of friends for 800 years!
Modern science has proved they were right:
“To live wisely requires the ability to perceive, guide and foresee our emotions. Feelings of happiness aren’t a coincidence but the consequence of right thoughts and actions–a concept which modern neuroscience, ancient philosophy, and Buddhism…all agree.
We in the West typically emphasize the value of the correct decision: if only we were to make the right choice at this or that fork in the road, everything would improve. But according to the traditions of Buddhism and the philosophies of ancient Greece and Rome, it is more important to anchor ourselves in good habits, because these form the mind. We should want to change ourselves rather than our circumstances. The rest will come, because with a mind that is prepared for happiness, we will automatically seek out those situations that make us happy.
The importance each of us gives to the conscious choice is in the end a matter of faith. But two things are certain. First, our sense of happiness depends much more on the ways in which the brain perceives than on external circumstances; and second, occasional efforts aren’t sufficient to change our ways of perceiving. If the brain is to be rewired, repetition and habit are indispensible. And they, in turn, depend on a willingness to make an effort.
People are willing to go to great lengths when it concerns status, career, or their children’s development. But when it concerns happiness in everyday life, they can be oddly stingy with their energy. And yet, the way to happiness is quite straight forward: ‘The actual secrets of the path to happiness are determination, effort, and time,’ explains the Dalai Lama.
To this science can only assent.”
(From ‘The Science of Happiness’ by Stefan Klein)
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