Berend Lange’s KOMPASS

     I was sitting at one of our gorgeous beaches in Cape Town’s False Bay with a friend when we saw a school of dolphins in the bay.

     Not far away, they were swimming close to the surface, leaping forward half way out of the water and heading towards an unknown destination in their peculiar determined way, like they often do.

     One thing was different this time, though : the leading dolphin and a few others behind him in the group were jumping far out of the water, straight up, doing summersaults backwards and forwards in all sorts of twisted ways.

     It was absolutely spectacular! Other people had noticed their unusual behaviour as well and stopped whatever they were doing to watch.

     I always thought that dolphins collectively chase a shoal of fish when they swim in a group close to the surface, but they were clearly jumping for pure joy here! What’s more, this exuberant display of fun and happiness was contagious, since more and more dolphins started to breach and all the spectators had a big smile on their faces, too.

     Dolphins are well known for their playful behaviour, and this reminded me that joy is an essential part of our life as human beings.

     Most of us have buried it under layers of boredom, frustration and responsibility, though - when have you last felt the urge to jump for joy? I enjoy life most when I allow myself to be free of all that, to hold on to nothing and to have no restrictions.

     I am free when I look at the sea from my office window, when I forget my own self-importance and the pressure to perform, when I am no longer offended by the actions of others, nor in need of their approval.

     My best creative work is done when I can be myself, often by myself, not distracted from the source of human inspiration and uninterrupted by daily chores or phonecalls. Freedom and joy are inseparable - they are a state of mind, I think, most easily found in children uninhibited by the burdens of our competitive lifestyle, lost in play with no intent to do harm.

     If we agree that feelings of hatred, violence and envy make joy impossible, we have found a way to uncover it - yet our culture does not always facilitate this notion.

     “There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way”, Eykis says in Wayne Dyer’s book “Gifts from Eykis” : allow yourself to be free of doubt, gloom, bitterness and fear as often as you can, every day. This freedom will allow joy to breach the surface and give you new ideas to do more productive work, be a better husband, mother or writer and help you pass it on to anyone who is ready to accept it.

     Happiness must be the default state of being for anything that lives - the only thing that can prevent joy from ruling our lives is the human mind interfering with it.

     That means that we don’t have to create joy for ourselves, we just have to allow it to happen - isn’t it ironic that we find that difficult to do? After all, I have never met anyone who doesn’t want to enjoy himself, and yet so few do - even here in the careless Cape of Good Hope.

     Where else do we see more of the glorious guidance of nature around us? Make up your mind to do something wonderfully joyous at least once a day, whatever tickles your fancy : play with your cat, eat a cookie, tell a joke - or do summersaults like the dolphins.

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