How to be happy: 'Everything, both happiness and unhappiness, exists'

The flower in the top image is a 'Bird of Paradise' (Strelitzia).
Its flower language is 'to have it all'.

It is a truly mysterious flower,
with orange petals that look like a bird.

Seeing the flower language 'to have it all',
I found myself thinking about many things today.

The other day, I had a slightly unpleasant experience at work.

Things didn't go as planned,
or I felt uneasy about someone's words.

On days like that,
the world starts to look like it's full of only unpleasant things.

However, when I got home,
my son ran up to me with a smile, saying 'Welcome home!'

Dinner was my favorite curry (with naan).

After dinner, I laughed while chatting with my wife about trivial things.

Thinking back from the morning,
although there were unpleasant things,
there were definitely good things too.

That's when I realized:

in this world, the ingredients for happiness,
and the ingredients for unhappiness,
are all there from the very beginning.

If you watch the news, you can feel anxious.
If you look at social media, you can compare yourself to others.
You can also get hurt in relationships.

But at the same time,

there are beautiful flowers.
There are interesting books.
There is time with family.
There is delicious food.

It's not a world of just one or the other, is it?

In the past,
whenever something unpleasant happened,
I would only think about that.

Then, strangely enough,
I would find one unpleasant thing after another.

Conversely, on days when I had fun plans,
I would even notice small good things.

Even though it's the same world,
what I was looking at was different.

Of course,
there are truly painful events in life.

Like illness or loss,
there are times when you cannot easily change your mindset.

Even so, happiness does not
disappear from the world.

Flowers are blooming on the roadside.

Clouds are drifting in the sky.

Children are playing happily.

The ingredients for happiness
are still there today, just as they always are.

The Bird of Paradise's flower language, 'to have it all'.

To me,
it didn't mean having all the money or success,
but rather that life is prepared with many things,
including both happiness and unhappiness.
Everything, both happiness and unhappiness, exists.

If that's the case, I want to live

finding as much happiness as I can.

A book that influenced me in writing this article

'The Practice of Not Reacting' by Ryushun Kusanagi

This is a book I have introduced several times.

I have read it many times, but
every time I read it, I get new insights.

In this world,
there are ingredients for happiness,
and there are ingredients for unhappiness.

Rather than trying to force them away, this book teaches the importance of first accepting that 'these things exist'.
You cannot eliminate unhappiness from the world.

But you can choose whether to keep looking only at the unhappiness,

or to also turn your eyes toward happiness.
If you haven't read it yet,

this is a book I would like you to pick up.
Please do.

I have also compiled other 'ways to be happy' flowers
at the link below.
Please take as much as you need 🍀

Thank you for reading until the end.
I hope to see you in another article.
🍀 May you be happy 🍀