What if Happiness and Wellbeing Were Pursuing You?

In a world where we are constantly bombarded by the media and our own thinking about how to be happier, healthier and improve wellbeing, it can be extremely difficult to see that we may have it all wrong.

I opened my email this morning and was hit by “5 Mistakes you are…” “6 Reasons you are…” “10 Tips to…,” and the funny part about it was that most of the tips and guidance was contradictory.  I was sitting there dazed and confused from the battering I just took from others telling me how I’m doing it all wrong and how my life, health, and happiness could be better when it occurred to me - what if this "chasing health, happiness and wellbeing" stuff was all wrong? What if health, happiness, and wellbeing were actually pursuing us? What if we stopped the pursuit of happiness and wellbeing and, instead, got pursued?As a health and wellbeing coach and practitioner, I see evidence everyday that our health and wellbeing are innate and that it is only our thinking that blocks us from the experience of wellbeing. The chasing, the judging, the hyper self-awareness, are the very things that block our innate health and wellbeing from being expressed. The product is the feeling that we need more to be more, resulting in "should-haves", "could-haves", and "have-to's".

But what if we are tripping over the health, happiness, and wellbeing that innately comes from within, in our pursuit to find whatever it is we think is out there? What if a low mood or a health challenge is actually a health, happiness, and wellbeing "check-engine" light? Not something telling you to run life faster, do more, or have more, but a reminder to simply look within yourself for insight and opportunity.

Take today to stop the search and see what is already there for you. Notice the fact that your body circulates blood, fights bacteria, builds and rebuilds tissue, fights infection, grows new tissue, craves only the nutrients it needs for health and wellness. Notice how thoughts come and go like clouds. Notice how you can wake up in a low mood and within 30 minutes forget what you were upset about. Notice that it takes far more effort to be who you think you need to be and no effort at all to be yourself. Take today to stop the search and you might just find that health, happiness, and wellbeing are pursuing you.