Yin Yang

The oh so glorified word; Happiness. To be happy, to have happiness, to seek happiness endlessly, to make others happy, to live happy, to die happy. How wonderful would life be, if it were only, purely happiness. In the physical world there are so many things that are categorized as wrong, therefor causing unhappiness (synonyms; sadness, sorrow, depression, melancholy, low spirits, grief, pain, suffering, agony, etc.) All these words are things we would like to avoid, because they take away from our time to be happy. Just as anything in our human condition, we need practice to become great at it. Happiness, for a human, requires practice.

How do you (actually) practice being happy? Does anyone know what happiness means? Have you ever experienced true inner peace, even if just for a moment? It happens in small moments all of the time if you pay attention enough, but how do you feel it one hundred percent of the time? Would you even appreciate the feeling if there wasn't it's opposite? I have this reoccurring symbol in my life, and maybe you do too; the Yin Yang. The beauty of the Yin Yang represents all of the polar opposites that make the world what it is. There has to be darkness in order for us to know light, bad to know good, up to know down etc.

"The principle of Yin and Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy and culture in general dating from the third century BCE or even earlier. This principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites. The two opposites attract and complement each other and, as their symbol illustrates, each side has, at it's core, an element of the other (represented by the small dots). Neither pole is superior to the other and as an increase in one brings a corresponding decrease in the other, a correct balance between the two poles must be reached in order to achieve harmony.

Yin is feminine, black, dark, north, water (transformation), passive, moon (weakness and the goddess Changxi), earth, cold, old, even numbers, valleys, poor, soft, and provides spirit to all things. Yin reaches it’s height of influence with the winter solstice.

Yang is masculine, white, light, south, fire (creativity), active, sun (strength and the god Xihe), heaven, warm, young, odd numbers, mountains, rich, hard, and provides form to all things. Yang reaches it’s height of influence with the summer solstice." Ancient History Encyclopedia

So, does happiness simply mean finding balance? In knowing that in order to have harmony we need both sides; comes a level of acceptance of the so called "bad times" in life, and knowing they are contributing to the good in a way that is necessary for achieving balance. I know the word acceptance comes up a lot in my writings and even though I have an intense level of awareness of it's importance, I still seem to be missing this concept in some way. Having COMPLETE acceptance, letting go, going with the flow, living in the NOW, being, being in spirit, inner peace, love, happiness; things I feel I constantly work towards, but struggle with at times. Finding balance and accepting the good with the bad, the bad with the good; could this create endless happiness?

What if we redefined the word happiness into a more reachable explanation. Instead of the learned thinking that happiness has to be a concept we eventually can grasp, with work and effort, we could view happiness as something we already have within us. We just have to remember that it is there. It is a game of remembering. We have been conditioned our whole existence in a way that doesn't seem to allow us to achieve happiness unless we have this, or that, or follow the rules of life; school, work, marriage, kids, repeat. What if the ultimate happiness lies within us already and we have just forgotten how it feels?

I go in and out of the feeling of happiness. The more I have worked on myself and educated myself I have been able to feel happiness more than not. When I don't feel it though, I have been trying to take myself out of my body and observe myself from an outside perspective. What i have noticed is anytime I have a negative emotion come over me, I feel like it will never end. It feels permanent and that continues to spiral me downward. Although I have the knowledge and awareness that I will not have these feelings forever, in the heat of the moment, it feels like it will never end. Hence the human nature to self sabotage. We get into a lower vibration way of thinking and we feed off of it, when instead we need to remind ourselves of the truth. We need to constantly remind ourselves of what is real, and what is not.

The Yin Yang is a special concept for me because I am learning to love the dark sides of me. To accept them and allow them to help the light side of me grow stronger. I am aware that the dark side may never go away, but I am also aware that there are very specific times and places when it is okay to express that dark side. The more I can remind myself to keep balanced, to accept me for all that I am, and practice, practice, practice... the more I can understand the true meaning of happiness. And the more I can understand that it is already within me.

Surrounding myself with people who can get on this level, who can understand that the dark comes with the light, and can accept me for all that I am, isn't always the easiest task. I have learned though, that I would rather be alone than with anyone who can't vibe with me on this level of awareness. I have loved and loss many beautiful people who I respect and remember fondly, but I know that I cannot grow if I hold onto dead-end relationships.

The Yin and Yang force each other to grow, they force each other to find balance, they are within each other, they reflect each other, and they never leave each other. I believe we all have the Yin and the Yang inside us in some way, shape and form and we have the privilege of walking this Earth with others who can also complete our journey and make it that much more enjoyable. But, just like the Yin Yang represents; there are times we need to walk this road alone, and times when we need others to help us get there.