The Greatest

An important secret for being a happy person in a competitive culture eluded me and probably many others, early on.

Having been raised to fulfill her father’s unrequited dream of becoming a doctor, my mother was set up for high competition and living in her intellect under a great deal of stress. She never was good enough.

As life goes, this traumatic imbalance and PTSD was passed down to me and my siblings. We each struggled and dealt with it in different ways and as best we could.

It reminds me of a visit with my maternal grandparents when I was 6 years old. As Grandma pointed to enlarged portrait photos of my two siblings and me on her wall, she said that each one is prettier than the other. Immediately I asked her which one is the prettiest, and she marveled over that.

Vital for my healing and my recovery has been a meditation practice that came from efforts to understand and look more deeply into life. It did what psychotherapy couldn’t do for liberation and a more holistic and interconnected view.

This led to a precious secret for being a happy person, these days, in a world where happy people seem scarce.

We can actually drop ideas of being superior and inferior and no longer be manipulated that way. When we practice this awareness, we can more fully and authentically discover and enjoy who we are. Each and all of us are unique originals without duplicate and without compare.

Shall we ask which awesome snowflake or majestic mountain is prettier? Likewise each person and all of humanity has beauty, dignity and magnificence.

Joy Wilson Lone Pine