Maintaining a Happy State of Mind When Autumn Leaves begin to Fall

Happiness is something you are, and it comes from the way you think. To maintain a happy state of mind, check within to see what is going on inside you.  We can’t control other people, situations, circumstances or changes in the weather and seasons, but we can control what we’re thinking.  

Now when ‘autumn leaves begin to fall’, does our mind also ‘fall’ at that time? Negativity is the result of faulty thinking and disturbs my inner peace – ‘Oh no! The leaves are dying, falling; we’re in for another cold, dull and dreary winter’.  

Or since we are by nature positive, does my mind ‘rise’ and see it as a ‘Glorious Fall’ and begin to think of the benefits of this seasonal change? 

“The leaves help sustain this universe of life beneath our feet, nourishing the growth of the trees and new leaves. Actually, no leaf falls; they merely transform at the right time. The forests are radiating inner beauty as each leaf changes color.  

The sap has stopped running and the chlorophyll has vanished in the leaves, revealing the remaining minerals showing off their various colors of red, purple, orange, and yellow. The leaves will return after a winter rest.  

In the meantime what fun we can have playing and jumping in them. The more I hold onto such positivity in my thoughts, the more power is invested in it and the more my happiness increases.  

Embrace the day. Life may not be the way it is supposed to be, but it is the way it is. The way we deal with it is what makes the difference. 

Giving also helps maintain a happy state of mind.  When we give it makes us feel happy – a spontaneous happiness. Give a smile, a kind word of encouragement.  Have a big and generous heart. No one has ever become poor from giving. 

The miracle is this, the more we share the more we have. Smile, happiness makes you look better. Love, it makes you enjoy life. Meditate – it makes you strong.

Create an attitude of gratitude.  Maintaining happiness is a daily practice, twice a day like brushing my teeth. Upon waking and before sleeping write 10 things you are grateful for, giving thanks to God. The quality of sleep will be such that on waking your ‘Good Morning’ will be cheerful and loving throughout the day. You will feel the difference when you start counting your blessings.

Happiness is not determined by what’s happening around you, but rather what’s inside you.

Most people are searching for happiness outside of themselves. That’s a fundamental mistake. Happiness is something you are.  Happiness starts with you; not your relationships, or your job or your money, and it comes from the way you think. 

Love your mind and stay happy. Constantly have a happy face and remain healthy with the nourishment of happiness. The more you spend, the more these unlimited treasures of happiness increase. No matter what happens, I must not lose my happiness.  

Accumulate power from God; fill the soul with an inner quality of happiness that remains into the future.

(You can contact Sister Chirya Risely, from Owego, at bkchirya@gmail.com or at chirya.risely@peacevillageretreat.org.)