Day 4: The Art of Happiness

The Art of Happiness

Day 4

Today we were told to “walk the talk”: walk like a person that respects themselves and understands that we are imperfect beings, a work in progress.

Day 4

My day began with a solid group of guys who have truly been early risers the entire trip. They belief that meditative practices make a difference in how the day unfolds. This morning I used the meditation to integrate the teachings of the previous days. There is so much to digest and piece together.

After another tasty and full breakfast (I think most of us are gaining weight here), we were led to see a sacred space in the pyramids that not many are allowed into. Toltec priests were taught the spiritual lessons of time in this space. Ancient wall drawings and inscriptions remain there.

As a group, we all went deep today into led meditations about the roles we play in our own movie, how others play roles in our movie, and how we play roles for others. We were then allowed time to find a sacred spot for ourselves. This was an opportunity to see how we picture the movie of our life to be in the future. And to see our authentic self.

We learned about the art of happiness, which is the idea that life is full of unhappy moments and understanding that things happen for a reason. It is when challenges come our way that we look within and use the bag of tools we have acquired overtime.

Many of us in addiction fall into the pattern of being comfortable with suffering. We are not afraid of death but are afraid of truly living this life. Leaning into this life can be uncomfortable and learning one of those tools to be “comfortable with discomfort” is a major theme of this week.

Today we were told to “walk the talk”: walk like a person that respects themselves and understands that we are imperfect beings, a work in progress.

We wrapped up the evening in group. Everyone shared their wisdom, and the Ruiz brothers helped us understand the process of “forgiveness” and “unconditional love.” It was a beautiful moment.

We have a very early morning tomorrow as we will be capping off this leg of our adventure by climbing the Pyramid of the Sun to see the sun rise. Then, we will transition on to Cancun where we will be taking part in “paradise / new dream” teachings of the new Toltec age.