Adam Gordon - 365 Ways to be Happy

In the Chinese language the word for busy is made up of two characters heart and killer. Today busy is the by-word for modern living and it is no surprise that many thousands of hearts fail every year. Yet the true heart of each one of us lies not within the body, but within our consciousness. The spiritually-minded describe it as the soul the essence of who we are. Our spiritual well-being (our level of connection with the soul) can be measured by the quality and stability of our inner peace and our capacity to radiate love into the world. These depend on our ability to create stillness at will. Meditation and quiet contemplation are the most effective ways to promote spiritual well-being, because they help us to calm our minds, release past hurts, be fully present, know the joy of the moment, transform the quality of our thinking and begin the healing of our hearts from inside out.

Life can be difficult and demanding and there can be no obvious way to make it less so, but, with the rich variety of ideas presented here, I hope you will be able to add a set of possibilities to your armoury of in the moment options. If one doesnt work, or isnt appropriate to the situation you find yourself in, there will be another which will extend a lifeline to you or even become a building block to a bigger and more confident life.

We all want to be happy and for many of us becoming happy might not be so difficult if we can clear away a few obstacles and old patterns.

Unfortunately for others that is not so straightforward, but even if we dont arrive at a place called Happiness, the process can at least push us some distance along the way and make us happier.

In creating this book, I have tried to encompass a broad spectrum of techniques that might point us towards happiness, with a range of meditations, contemplative insights, nuggets of spiritual wisdom, affirmations and visualizations that I have gathered from various sources. While I personally may not fully concur with all the viewpoints expressed in the book, I respect the original writers, whether named or anonymous. The result of this eclectic approach is not an instruction manual for meditation or spiritual development, but a resource of authentic and varied ways to embark upon the process of self-improvement.

When attempting the step-by-step contemplative techniques, the secret of success is never to struggle with your thoughts and feelings. Instead, simply observe them. With observation comes a natural detachment that allows you to continue taking steps toward the heart of your self. If you are contemplating an insight or nugget of wisdom, imagine placing it in a hall of inner mirrors. This allows you to see with your inner eye the depth and breadth of that wisdom from all angles. When practising the visualizations, aim for a balance between creating the image and allowing the image to form. The key is being playful without losing the gentle concentration required to be creative.

There are a number of ways in which you can use this book. One is to extract, at random, an entry per day. You can then use that entry as the focus of your morning meditation and watch how it impacts on the rest of the day. Another approach is to take one technique per week, and practise or contemplate it daily. This deepens your experience of that particular tip, triggering progressively deeper insights.

Alternatively, you could pick three techniques at random, work through each one in turn, and then contemplate the interconnections between them.

Whatever approach you choose to follow, you will find that this portfolio of brief suggestions will help you to access and release the power of your innate peace, love and joy. This little book provides a map for this inner journey, with 365 signposts pointing back to the already perfect you and pointing forward to a more contented life lived in peace, love and celebration of the joyful spirit that you are.

May these teachings be of benefit to you and those around you.

Adam Gordon