Desire and how it creates unhappiness

Discontentment. Lack of satisfaction. Unhappy. Sad. Angry. Depressed.

A Malcontent - a person who is any or all of the above.

Of late, I've been thinking about discontentment. And Malcontents. At a personal level, I don't feel discontented (most of the time!) but, just in general, it seems to me at least that most people are deeply unhappy. Not often do I meet someone who clearly indicates that they are completely ok. When I do, wow, they seem to GLOW.

But, it is not all our fault! Seems our society hinges upon creating a sense of discontentment in folks. A feeling of being deeply dissatisfied with one's life. Of not having enough. Of desiring. Wishing. Wanting. Needing. Craving for O so many, many things. Our teeth are not white enough. Our cars are not fast enough. Our bodies are not slim enough. Our relationship is not ecstatic enough. Clearly, WE are not enough. Or so the media would have us believe.

Put your attention for a moment on our advertising with smiling, perfectly decked-out, flawless bodies, (usually young bodies) having the time of their lives - driving a fast car, drinking some alcoholic beverage, swooning over some ridiculous after shave, or lounging in a hot tub with other flawless bodies having an excrutiatingly amazingly good time. Hah!

Take Facebook for example. FB has literally millions of subscribers, most of whom don't post a lot (or ever!)...but they lie back in the trees and watch the goings-on. I've never seen a post from a 'friend' who was having a bad hair day, or who failed at some life-changing event. Most posters post happy times, which serve to increase the feeling of self-confidence in the poster, and supremely contribute to the feeling of negative self-confidence in the reader. Of feeling that the whole world is dancing through life, while you are lying on the couch, snotty tissues in hand, nursing a bad cold. Ugh.

Seems our economy hinges on creating DESIRE!!

Now, Yoga speaks volumes to the avarices of desire and greed. These are considered to be the 'great destroyers' of peace. In Sanskrit, these mental states that cloud the mind are called the 'kleshas', and these we will leave to another day! For now, let's just say they are 'negaative thoughts.'

Challenging Negative Thoughts.

Everybody has negative thoughts. It's normal. You are human. But, if negative thoughts begin to run rampant, they become toxic. You know, the mind is a powerful thing. It's not so different from a large tool used in construction called a trencher / or a Ditch Witch! Seems you can ride it, walk behind it, push it, pull it, OR you can TURN IT OFF. YAY!

A negative (or positive!) thought by the mind lays down a trail..(not unlike the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel and their trail of bread crumbs!!) But, every time the thought is repeated, the trench/trail that has been carved out by the Ditch Witch (called a Samskara in Sanskrit) becomes deeper and deeper... and more ingrained...and more difficult from which to disengage.

Now, there is tons of information about how to TURN OFF...and these we will leave for yet another day. But suffice to say that a Ditch Witch is used for trenching.

So, the next time you hear yourself having a Ditch Witch-ing thought...Here's some advice from a Not-So-Wise Woman..If you have a human body, and if you are reading this, take a look around you to really, actually, honestly and truly, notice all the wonderful, fantastic, magical things (and people, too!) that are also in your universe. Banish self-defeating thoughts with a practice of Gratefulness.

Part of the human condition -- the part that can only lead to pain, is that we are blinded by the things around us and that we can't see our true, divine and blissful nature.

We forget who we are. Divine Beings!