The Butterfly of Joy and Contentment

From the core of our being, we simply desire joy and contentment.  But so often these feelings are fleeting and hard to find, like a butterfly that lands on us and then flutters away.
Dalai Lama ( Andrews McMeel Desktop Calendar )

Sigh!  Only two days left of this calendar that has offered me precious wisdom and inspiration throughout the last 12 months.  So grateful for this thoughtful gift from my daughter. So grateful for the wisdom this holy man shares with all the people of the world regardless of religious preference.

So we  all seek joy and contentment?  Most of us would agree that is what motivates us more than anything else.  Yet the Dalai Lama tells us these things are as fleeting and as elusive as having a butterfly land on us. That is pretty depressing, isn't it?  :)

Depends on how you look at it.  The type of superficial joy and contentment most of us seek under the label "happiness" is found outside of us and feeds the ego only.  Anything the ego seeks will not last and it will keep us on an endless search for more.

True joy and contentment that I refer to as "peace" is not fleeting or elusive.  It is in us always and if we turn our searching eyes inward rather than outward...we may just recognize it and tap into it.

Go inward to tame the unsettled mind and realize that the butterfly of who you are is and always will be there.

All is well