What brings you peace?

Now there is the very definition of a stationary target. The trouble is, we all seem to think that it is a moving target. We spend our lives trying to find it, don’t we? We always start happy. So why are we all such a bunch of miserable old sad sacks by the time we are middle-aged?

We start happy because we have everything we need all in one place. We have a community (our family), we have free public transport (well, rides from Mum and Dad), we have our basic survival needs met for us in every way, and we have no choice but to be happy.

Then we become teens. We start to see the world for what it is, we get our first taste of capitalism, we learn that fairness and egalitarianism are schoolyard farce, and we become cynical and decide to be individuals that don’t need the community.

As we lose that sense of community and become more and more (self-)isolated, we lose the real opportunity for happiness.

Human beings are social animals.

I hate the idea of it just as much as the next introvert, but it is true. We have evolved to work together, spend time together, and make each other HAPPY.

I would love to be a hermit, hole up in my office and write or read every day without the wearisome distraction of human company. The trouble with that is that we are not coded that way. Sucks, right?

So, what makes me happy? Going kayaking with my family. Going out to coffee with people I know. Spending the afternoon at the beach flying a kite and watching other people. Snuggling.

What makes me happy is what makes us all happy, even if we aren’t comfortable with the idea of it.

(I’m uncomfortable with other people touching me, but I hug and allow people to embrace me because it brings happiness).

The thing that brings me peace and happiness is a two-part recipe: part one is spending time in nature with my family. Going outside of my comfort zone and then returning. Part two is returning home after an excursion of any length.

Think about when you get home after a long time away, that feeling of relief, that peace in knowing that you have made it back to your place in the world. Make sure that your place in the world is a place where you are comfortable being!

When you return, it is always a much more peaceful place than it was when you left.