08/09/2026
What is true happiness?
Standing outside last night, listening to the raindrops fall and smelling the crisp scent of the rain, I felt profoundly alive. It gave me so much joy – no, it SPARKED joy.
We’ve been conditioned to say things like "that made me so happy" or "I’ll be happy when..." But phrases like these attach happiness to things outside of ourselves. That is conditional happiness – something that is constantly fluctuating, shifting, and changing. Something we keep chasing like a mirage in the distance.
So what is real joy?
The clue lies in the word IS – not WAS, and not WILL be. You can only ever BE happy right now. While you may have felt joy in the past and will certainly feel it in the future, the only moment you can ever actually experience it is NOW.
This doesn't mean we can be happy all the time – that isn't humanly possible! But when we forget that the source of joy lives within us, we can fall into the habit of convincing ourselves that something is missing or that happiness needs to be more than THIS is simply the voice of the ego.
Happiness is and will always be inside of you. What if you shifted your attention away from what GIVES you joy, and started noticing how external “joys” merely activate what IS already inside?
You might just find that you are already happy – really happy! 😊
PS: The words happiness and joy were used interchangeably in this post.