A Zen parable which has always made me smile:

One day a monk is out for a walk and comes to the banks of a wide river.  The river is blocking his path.

He looks left and right, desperately searching for a way to cross.  But the river is too wide to jump, too deep to wade and too fast to swim.

Just as the monk is about to give up, he spots a wise teacher walking on the other side of the river.

The monk hollers at the teacher:  “Oh wise one. How do I get to the other side of this river?”

The teacher pauses for a moment, looks up and down the river, and hollers back:

“My son.  You already are on the other side”.

What to take away from this little ditty?

I’ll give you one interpretation which links nicely to something I’m seeing more and more in my own life.

And it’s this:

We may already be exactly where we want to be.  

And the only trick, if there is one, is realising this.  Realising that we may already have everything we think we’re searching for.

Yes, I talk of hard-to-grab-hold-of ideas like happiness and wellbeing and peace. 

But I talk of more material items and possessions too. 

The promotion that will bring more security, the money that will bring more happiness, the house that will bring more space or the 4 day week that will bring more freedom.

See, security and happiness and space and freedom aren’t things that exist outside us.  They’re not baked into physical objects or external situations.

And if happiness, security, wellbeing and freedom are what we’re searching for (either directly or indirectly), then maybe all it needs is a shift in perspective to look inside, rather than outside, to find those places within ourselves.

So this is the quickest and easiest way I know to find real happiness.

You don’t need to get hold of something, achieve something or “do” something to find it.

It’s already there inside you.

 - Tom

p.s. this is one of the ideas I regularly explore in my coaching.

I’m not taking on new coaching clients at the moment. But if this idea (and the idea of coaching) intrigues you and you’d like to be notified when some slots open up, you can join my waiting list here:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com

This link also has a few more details on the sort of coaching I offer.

And once you’re on the waiting list, you’ll be the first to know when new slots become available.