When professional herbalists treat their patients we do so holistically, which means we treat the whole person and not the disease as such. Mind, body and spirit are connected so to ensure our patients become well and stay well we must take their emotional well being into consideration as part of their treatment. This also applies to home herbalists and I have included this method of treatment in the Home Herbalist full course.
For some time now I have been pondering on our concept of happiness and what it really means to be happy.
Drawing from my own life experience and that of my patients’ I realize that when most people say they are searching for happiness they are confusing ‘being happy’ with ‘contentment’.
What I have discovered is most of us think of ‘being happy’ as a constant state of the feeling we have when we are partying with friends, dancing, enjoying great company and anything that makes us joyful. We need these happy times but they simply don’t exist in a permanent way. As the old saying goes, ‘it’s impossible to live on the crest of a wave all of the time’. Why? Because in nature there is always a balance, a duality if you like. If we were to be happy, as I’ve described above, all of the time, then we wouldn’t know what happiness is. Instead, we would think it was a normal state of ‘being’ and begin searching for something that was more fulfilling.
It seems that when most people say they are searching for happiness they really mean they are searching for contentment. Being content is a most wonderful way to live and unlike those temporary happy moments, contentment can be permanent.
Following are some tips on achieving contentment:
1. This is the most important step. Contentment cannot be achieved without a healthy diet or enough sleep.
2. Allow time for you.
3. If at all possible, make your passion your work.
4. Where possible remove things from your life that you don’t enjoy. For example, if you are volunteering for too many committees, resign from those you don’t enjoy.
5. Always allow time to do the things you love to do.
6. Many women believe they must do what they consider the most important tasks before they can allow themselves to do the things they enjoy. Quite often we feel ‘guilty’ if we, for example, read a book, paint a picture, or work in the garden when the windows need cleaning, or cupboards need to be sorted. Guilt should never be a part of our vocabulary. We must do what we feel like doing at that particular moment.
7. Prioritize your daily activities putting those that you enjoy at the top and do them first and if you don’t complete those that are down low on your list, do them tomorrow or next week.
8. If your lifestyle doesn’t suit you make any changes that will help you achieve contentment.
9. Remove ‘should’ from your vocabulary. I was recently talking to a woman who applied for a job and when she got the job decided she didn’t want it. I asked her why she applied in the first place and she said she did so because she felt she ‘should’ have a job because of the way society perceives ‘stay-at-home’ mums. Her motivation to apply for a job was born out of her desire to ‘do the right thing’ rather than doing what she wanted to do. Needless to say after some discussion she contacted her new employer and told her she couldn’t work for her and now she is contented once more.
10. ‘Be’ who you truly are, not who you think you should ‘be’, or who others think you should ‘be’.
I hope this article helps you achieve contentment in your life if you don’t already have it. If you have any more tips please leave a comment.
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