Even without catastrophes throwing us for a loop, it seems hard
enough to stay happy in an on-going way when everything is copacetic.
The little niggling things get people down more than disasters. And
if we think that contentment happens randomly—when we throw a
really good party, or only when our best qualities and the stars are all
properly aligned—then we feel helpless and at the mercy of external
forces. We try to woo happiness, grab it, hope it will be bestowed upon
us. All this maneuvering takes a lot of effort, expended in the wrong
direction.
The fact is that joy—feeling peaceful, happy, and filled with gratitude
at the beauty of life—does take work. The rigor of being attentive
to our own process in every moment is what uncovers, grows, and
sustains it. When we make a commitment to connect with our joy,
being sloppy in our mental habits becomes a luxury with too high
a price. We no longer can afford to fall unconsciously into old, selfdefeating
behaviors. We commit to being attentive of our perceptions
and attitude, of the world around us, and to working with our
assumptions.
Grounding and centering bring you back to your body in the
present, making an end run around your frayed, over-worked
thoughts. Grounding and centering base your present experience on
what is real—not what is seen through the lens of old beliefs, but on
your perceptions in the here-and-now. The more you return to your
bodily experience, the more you build a truthful definition of reality.
~~from chapter, “Joy Takes Work”