There was a special event on the Ten Percent Happier app entitled, “The Dalai Lama’s Guide to Happiness.” I found the four minute videos on co-founder Dan Harris’s journey to learn from Dalai Lama so engaging it stopped me from my normal multitasking. I was enthralled by it.
On the second to the last day, the topic was death.
To be honest with you, I have a tumultuous relationship with death. I think about it probably more than I should. But when I went to London, I was exposed to how much we don’t talk about death in American culture. The conversation that day helped me to use my infatuation with death as a way to not only deal with my anxiety over it as well as make me surprisingly happier, maybe even by 10%.
I had a health issue a few nights ago where in one scenario rest and time would heal my symptoms. But in another, I’d have to go to the hospital and need surgery.
When you’re struggling with a physical symptom and google is your nearest most convenient doctor, you run into decisions like these late a night. And it’s not a good thing.
Thankfully, I ended up in the first scenario. But that terrifying moment helped me understand why death can be a friend.
I thought about what I would do if this moment was indeed one of my last. Would I want to spend it hold up in my room googling symptoms? Or would I want to spend it with my children, loving on and being near them?
I realized every moment is precious. It’s not just when we’re jumping out of a plane or getting a cancer screening or surgery. But it’s every day when we’re picking up our kids or doing the laundry. It’s all the moments that we take for granted because we think we’ll have a million more left.
In that moment, I chose to be more present.
The exercise made me happier even in the throes of what I still didn’t know. I was grateful for the uncomfortable feelings. It challenged me to expect more from myself and this one life. Instead of waiting until my health was perfect or the conditions were ideal, I would love my life now with all its problems and pains. I would love and surrender to it even when feeling powerless and out of control.
It’s a practice that I intent on continuing. And if you were my client, I’d advise the same for you.
If you have but this one day, what would you do with it? How would you use your life in a way that helps others? How would you align your life with your truest values and purpose? How would you love more and fear less?