Adrien’s Lifestream

You've got a selection of my best picks:

• The starting point is mindfulness. And mindfulness is about being fully immersed in the present moment. One way of getting into that state is mindful breathing. Sounds obvious? Just try it and notice how it feels.

• Our society has materialized happiness with things. They expect you to get them so you'll feel happy somewhere in the future. You actually don't have to. Once you're right in the present moment, you have peace and joy right now. Living in the present moment is taking good care of the future.

• Aimlessness: The basic condition for being happy is our consciousness of being happy. If we're not aware that we're happy, we're not really happy.

A good example is this: When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. But when we don't have a toothache, we're still not happy. A non-toothache is very pleasant though.

• What's Not Wrong?: We often ask "What's wrong?". Doing so, that makes we think of things that we're guilty of. Negative thinking often comes up. We would be much happier if we tried to stay on track with the positive things around us. We should learn to ask, "What's not wrong?" and be in touch with that.

• There is a big emphasis on interbeing.

When you're driving your car, you become one with the car. You think you control the car while the car is changing yourself. Once in the car, you expect to arrive pretty quickly. So you're stuck in traffic, stress comes up and you have lost control over your expectation. We should drive our cars with mindfulness so we stay happy as the traveler who walks without thinking to arrive.