As members of any modern society, most of us are “domesticated” to certain degrees. We are trained to accept conventional wisdom without question. We live life according to other people’s opinions and expectations. Instead of speaking our mind, we remain silent, afraid of disapprovals. When we are asked what we want, we are unsure because we are not used to think independently for ourselves. This is the price we pay to fit in and to be accepted. We live in an invisible mental prison.
According to spiritual teachers including Dalai Lama, the only thing all human beings pursue is happiness. Truly, every single thing we do in life, for example watching movie, getting promotion or raising family, ultimately is to make us happier or to avoid pain, which is still to make us happier. Even when we commit crimes or take drugs, however misguided, subconsciously we believe taking those actions make us happier.
The problem is we often confuse what we love (source of happiness) with what we should (to get social approvals as stepping stone to happiness). Building such stepping-stone is a costly investment with no guaranteed return. In the process, we might be selling our souls and our precious lives in exchange for stress, anxiety and disappointment. Because what we should is often driven by fear of disapproval or punishment.
Fortunately we can pursue happiness directly by identifying what WE TRULY want, what makes us happy and fully alive. What will we do if we have no fear and can change realities? What if we are allowed to follow our own life scripts and seek only our own approvals? What do we love to Be, to Do and to Have? The only barrier is our invisible mental prison.
