We never know what we prevented....
Today, I'm sad.
Well, not really sad because I've been working on my baseline happiness* levels for nearly 10 years through the twice daily practice of Vedic Meditation.
But let's just say, the day isn't going how I had hoped it would. Last night, all the signs were pointing to today being a great day for surfing and I was excited to be a part of it.
Except for the fact that earlier, I'd taken off on a close out right on the beach and slammed my left foot into the sand so hard I thought I'd broken it. It's not broken but rather than improve overnight, it's gotten worse and there's absolutely no chance I'm surfing today. Hence my opening line.
But then it got me thinking. What if today, on the way to the beach for the surf I now won't get to have, I was going to have an accident that would have been far worse than a sore foot. Or a surfboard through the eye....or...or.....
The thing is, we will never know what our fortunes or misfortunes have prevented, because....well....they've been prevented.
So rather than be sad I'm not surfing, I'm just going to be happy that I got inspired to write this little piece. I'll probably also do some work today that may have been put towards the end of the queue....and who knows what good fortune that might bring....
There is a story in the Upanishads, one of the ancient texts of the Veda, which has a similar message. It discusses a farmer in a village whose son, who he totally adored and admired, breaks his arm whilst riding the white horse he loved so much. The father became distraught. But moments later, some members of the army came along and were it not for the broken arm, his son would have been conscripted into the army to fight a futile war. He went from the depths of despair to the heights of happiness. But then that night, his horse ran away, getting out through an open gate and back came the despair for the father. But the next morning, the horse returned with a mate and so he went from no horses to two horses. And his happiness returned.
And the story goes on.
The story of object referral happiness. Our preference is baseline happiness.
*Baseline happiness is the happiness that is not subject to change. Whether the surf is good or bad, whether our ankle is sore or not, we have a background of happiness that pervades all of our experiences. We still have preferences - good surf, healthy ankle - but if those preferences don't come about, we're happy anyway.....and we just never know what the bad surf or sore ankle prevented....
And the best way to get baseline happiness - the twice daily practice of Vedic Meditation.
Below is a photo of a day earlier this year when my baseline happiness coincided with some object referral happiness….