Category: Daily Reflection

“Happiness, true happiness, is an inner quality. It is a state of mind…If you have everything the world can give – pleasure, possessions, power – but lack peace of mind, you can never be happy.” (Dada Vaswani)

I grew up in a family that had plenty of money and never went without anything. I travelled to tons of nice places, I went on many vacations, I ate out at loads of lavish restaurants, I received many expensive gifts and gadgets, and I grew to believe that happiness only came in the form of things like these. As I got older and ventured out on my own, my sole desire was to pursue even more of them, Soon I added alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, sex, and control over others to the mix, believing each would also bring me great happiness. But in the long run none ever did. I should have known they wouldn’t though, because I never did see my family have any peace of mind growing up, even in all our abundance. Thankfully, I eventually went through a period where I lost most of everything I sought so hard after, and in the process, I discovered something my family never did, true happiness. It was always there, except I kept looking for it in the wrong places, mainly outside of me. I’m quite grateful I can say now that I fully understand why true happiness really only comes from an inner quality, and never an external one.

I pray I may discover the true happiness that has always resided within me and become open to letting go of all the external things I’m holding onto that are preventing me from seeing it.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.” (Andrew Murphy)

Do you resist change? Is it difficult for you to try something new? Do you allow your spiritual life to exist in a box where you’re normally only comfortable with what exists within its walls? At many times throughout my life I would have had to answer yes to each of these questions, solely because I was afraid of stepping outside my comfort zone. But over the years, I began to realize that if God was in everything and everyone somehow, then I might need to venture outside my safe container. It was hard at first and challenged my ego with every attempt I made to tear down those walls. Trying new foods, hanging out in different crowds, living clean and sober, changing careers, taking up new hobbies, moving to strange locales, exploring alternative medicine and other healing modalities, and studying other religions and spiritual practices all forced me to walk through fear and knock down one wall after another that I had built around myself. Thankfully, I’ve become far more open to change nowadays by doing so and have come to understand one very important principle along the way. Any wall that I build around myself is only going to keep me separated from seeing yet another magnificent side of my Higher Power.

I pray for the willingness to tear down any wall I’ve placed around myself and I pray for the strength to walk through any fear I may need to face in doing so.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.” (Eckhart Tolle)

I used to be such an extremely ungrateful person, rarely giving any sort of thanks or appreciation for what I had in life. Instead, I was usually more annoyed with some aspect of what I did have or intently focused on what I didn’t have. It wasn’t until I started doing a gratitude journal on a daily basis did I find myself learning to be a lot more grateful. By regularly recording the things each day I was thankful for helped me to realize how much abundance I had in life in each and every moment. Take for example my eyesight, hearing, and voice. There are countless people in the world who are lacking in one or more of these senses, yet I still have all three and am able to see the wonderful beauty in nature all around me on a constant basis. But sadly, I never used to appreciate any of it, because I was so unsatisfied with the majority of my life. Thankfully that’s no longer true, but it’s only because I’m writing at least ten things I’m grateful to my Higher Power for at the end of every single day. In doing so, I find that I like the present moment a lot more than I ever used to and I’m also more keenly aware how much there is to be grateful for with every breath I take. I’m sure it’s always been there, but unfortunately I just wasn’t open to seeing it before, which is precisely why I thank God I’ve become a lot more grateful of a person today.

I pray that I may become more grateful of a person in life and I pray that I may begin to see all the abundance that’s already all around me and within me.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson