Hello my friend,

Often in life, our desire for happiness makes us even more unhappy. 

When I first went off on my spiritual adventures around the world, I was traveling alone. After a few months of being on my own, seeing a group of friends talking and laughing would make me jealous and sad.

Being alone didn’t make me sad. Wanting happiness did.

This desire put me in an even more sullen mood. I thought to myself, “Am I even capable of laughing or smiling anymore?” “When’s the last time I laughed?” “Will I ever be happy again?”

I don’t know what I was expecting. Laughing by myself would look rather maniacal. But that’s what I wanted. 

I met a lot of people during my travels. You’re never really alone when you travel by yourself. But there was always an undercurrent of loneliness that made connecting with people hard.

Looking back, I see a young kid searching for happiness instead of peace. Peace was at my fingertips, but I wanted something else. I wanted the highest of the highs. Peace wasn’t good enough (mainly because I had no idea what peace was). I wanted lasting, true, blissful happiness.

Here’s what I have learned since then.

True peace is greater than any fleeting happiness. Happiness is temporary. A drug or a food or a movie can give it to you, but you can’t do those things all the time or you will quickly become miserable. Peace is forever. True peace, the kind that longs for nothing, is bliss. There can be sadness with peace. There can be pain with peace. There can be solitude with peace. Peace can always be there. And it makes happiness and gratitude more frequent, last longer, and feel even greater. 

So how do we get peace?

Love feeling all your feelings, not just happiness. Holding on too tightly to happiness and fearing sadness is a one-way ticket to misery town.

Peace is easy when we’re happy and everything’s going well. But peace in chaos is when we really need it. Peace is there to help us get through the tough times, not when we’re lying on the beach. We just have to stop wanting what we don’t have and start loving what is.

Pay a little less attention to the chaos and a little more attention to how your thoughts make you feel. Pay less attention on the world around you and more on your breath. Let the slow, soft, inhale and exhale anchor you in peace.

Love your misery. Love your sadness. Love conflict and stress. Love confusion and anger. Love your illness and pain. Nothing needs your love more. Accept them, embrace them, and stop running from them.

Love the chaos and you will only know peace.

Much love,

Todd