In the movie Peaceful Warrior, Socrates (Nick Nolte) asks young Dan Millman (played by Scott Mechlowicz) “Are You Happy?” Dan replies, “What does happy have to do with anything?” To which Socrates replies, “It has everything to do with everything.”
Needless to say, “Type A” driven champion athlete, campus stud, straight “A” student Dan initially thinks this life lesson is a load of crap. Happy? Who cares about happy? Once I win the big championship title and go to the Olympics, THEN I’ll be happy. Does this sound familiar to you? What is the fill in the blank for you in this sentence?
Once I get the big {enter whatever it is you’re striving for here} I’ll be happy.
Perhaps it is that big job promotion, getting your own business off the ground, winning the lottery (a popular choice), or buying that big vacation house. The truth of the matter is, though (and I can attest to this with my own experience over and over), we get to these “milestones” and “if only…then” moments and realize while the achievement is great, it doesn’t change who we are, how we feel about ourselves, or our ultimate life-happy-meter.
In the movie, it is not until Dan has everything he lives for taken away from him that he can REALLY start to learn about the way a peaceful warrior lives life and learn who he really is deep within his core. I won’t give too much away about the story, but the movie is definitely one with an inspiring message and a lesson to teach. While I don’t think it lives up to the oomph of the book (one of my all time favorites) – Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman , it is a movie well worth seeing and sharing with those you love.
Take a few moments and notice:
- Are you happy with WHO you are right now?
- What are you waiting for to be happy?
- What if right now was as good as it gets, could you be happy then?
- What kind of person would you have to be to experience happiness with who you are every day regardless of external circumstances?
If you’re noticing a discrepancy between how you’re experiencing life right now and how you’d really like to experience it, what is one thing you can do to bring more peace and contentment to this moment right now? Since we only have “right now”, if you can start stringing the “right now” moments together you have taken the first step toward changing the rest of your life.
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Happyness comes from within along with the answers. I myself is looking for the answers to that question. What can I do to make myself happy? Either it be a good wife that is loving, compassionate, sensual, not to mention understanding. Or a business that is developing into a million dollar business. Or it might be only freinds.If anyone has teh answers please email me at [email protected].
You hit the nail on the head Jeff. The happiness AND the answers come from within. Ultimately the most happiness comes from self-love and being whole — being OK with ALL of who you are — the light parts, the dark parts, and the in between parts.
Love your humor too — let me know if you get any email answers 😉