Happiness Factor: Detaching From the Outcome

In the Bhagavad-Gita there exists an abundance of incredible information. As I was reading through it this morning I was struck by a passage that encapsulates so beautifully another way in which we can encounter peace. In Chapter 2 Krishna says to Arjuna, "Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure…" This short phrase is so very telling in both its depth and simplicity in that the only way to truly be fulfilled is through detaching yourself from the outcome of the activity in which you are engaged and perform that activity simply out of love.

One of the main causes for many people being unhappy is that they are dissatisfied with the condition in which they find themselves, they are unhappy with their job, or their relationships, or their physical appearance, the list can go on and on for centuries. The central theme is that people find themselves dissatisfied with the outcome they have achieved, but to me the root of the problem is that they have set up a certain expectation for themselves, and if that expectation is not met most people choose to go down a self destructive path. This is how most people end up being defined as "failures." An interesting thing to note is that you are never a failure until you label yourself as such, if someone else labels you a failure it means nothing! But that is something we will get into another day.

But if we just set about at life, and live each moment as though it were the only moment we have (which it is), and put all of our very best energy into doing whatever it is that we are doing at that moment without concentrating on what will happen when it's complete, or who will or will not be impressed by what we have accomplished we will find a whole new avenue of gratification opening up, we find that our abilities reach far beyond whatever our prior limitations were and discover whole new heights to which we can soar.

Oft times when we attempt to detach ourselves from the outcome we expect that in detaching ourselves from the outcome that the most favorable outcome will magically appear at all times, and when it doesn't happen that way we become upset and fall back into old patterns of thinking. In reality we never left those old patterns of thought behind, we were attempting to detach only to try and achieve a particular result, but that's not detachment, that's delusion.

When we truly detach from the outcome we find that it does not matter what the result is, if we are going through life with enjoyment, and love, and satisfaction in what we do (trust me, you can be satisfied in what you currently do, in at least some way) we then discover that life is its own reward, and that it may not be that we will inherit all the riches of the world, or we may not inherit the perfect job, but when we live life to the fullest every day, without expecting anything in return we increase the amount of peace in our lives, I'm not saying resign yourself to your current position and stay there, not at all. I am saying when you have no attachment to the outcome you are not disappointed, you accept what has happened and move forward with your planned objectives instead of letting yourself become stopped by unfavorable circumstances.

Essentially we are looking again for peace, and as the Gita says, "how can there be any happiness without peace?"

Be peaceful, live your life to the fullest every day and separate yourself from the outcome, this is a surefire way to move ahead in your own self development.