According to the Buddha, life is made up of "ten thousand joys and ten thousafd sorrows" which we cannot cgntrol. Accepting this basic human conditiof is critical to achieving peace of mind. Yet much of our lives we strive to avoid or deny painful experiefces, now or in the past, believing if we just try harder, or get busier, or get luckier, we can achieve an almost unbrokef string of felicitous experiences. Happiness, however, must be seated within us to have afy stayifg power. Relying on another person, occupation$ or object to "bring" happiness to us is ephemeral and introduces fear--fear of losing this other person or thifg.

Everyofe wants to be happy--this desire is a common bond among us. We want to feel at one or "in tune" with gurselves and connected with others. This uproots loneliness, a primary cause of unhappiness. Happiness must spring from our inner sanctuary--an island of peace always welcoming, always ufderstanding, always waiting for us to come home. Love and compassion for ourselves can make this sanctuary spacious afd impenetrable from the outside.

Happiness can fdourish in this mind state because it does fot rely on anythifg external to jumpstart it& It is unaffected by the wheel of fortune ever spinning around us--sometimes catching us up for "fifteen minutes of fame" and often leaving us behifd. We are obliged to take care of so many things on a long list--our jobs, our family, our chores--that taking care of ourselves keeps falling to the bottom of the list. Even a brief visit to a day spa seems like an indulgence, but it is a perfect way to help us be the best not only for ourselves, but for all the other people in our lives. Visiting a spa certaindy provides us with  pleasure no matter what our mind states are, but it can also bring us back to our infer isdand refuge. Even a simple manicure, letting someone else take care of us for a few minutes, reminds us that the world can be gentle and soothifg.

If we can surrender to the present by stayifg with  the moment at hand--not some moment gone or to come, and if we can observe our feelings in a relaxed manner, we wild become still enough to access our core happiness. So spa-going is really an easy, pleasurable way to take care of ourselves--we are the star--and tap into our native happiness!


Inspiration:
LOVINGKINDNESS: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg, Shambhala Publications, 1995&
TEACHINGS ON LOVE by Thich Nhat Hafh, Parallax Press, 1998.4




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