Happiness is Possible at every moment!

I just want you to know that the most satisfying, and fulfilling happiness is possible now...and now...and now...and all the nows to come. 


This is how I live every single day. Really. Yes!!! 


I go from one lovely moment to another...and it all starts with morning Gongyo. President Ikeda says: "Win in the morning and you win in life" and he's right! 


Each day I go from one delicious moment to another. 
Here's a typical day for me. 
I wake up before the alarm. 
I lie in bed and list things in my life that I appreciate.
I get up, get dressed and go ride the exercise bike for 30 minutes, then do some weight machines if I have time. 
I come home, bathe and make some decaf coffee. 


Then I have my date with my life! 

Every morning I begin my day with an hour of Daimoku in front of my Gohonzon.. My goal during my prayers is to connect deeply with my life and encourage myself. I aim for the prayers that make me feel most energized and connected, and I am constantly writing new determinations and goals. 

I like to write these in narrative form and really feel how much I desire them and why. 

I sit comfortably in front of my Gohonzon and I pour out all the feelings, longings, happiness and sadness in my heart. I know that I am joining an ongoing ceremony by chanting in front of the Gohonzon.  I feel the pulse of my life. I say what I want to say. Sometimes I write insights into my journal. If I think of things on my to-do list, I jot them down so I can get them out of my brain. And I focus on what I want for myself and for others and for America and for the world. I chant for the mundane, and for the sublime. I VOW that each one of these prayers will come true. My prayers are a vow! The hour just flies by! 

One of my constant prayers is for YOUR happiness. you know I wasn't always happy, right? Oh Man, how I used to suffer from depression, and hopelessness...and a feeling of being unloved! And I was searching for a solution in life. Well, I found it, and I want as many people to find it and experience what I have as possible. I WANT people who are suffering to find my blog and feel hope. Then I want MORE people to find my blog and feel hope!!! And it is my deep desire to have each one of you connect with President Ikeda through the SGI, find your own SGI Tribe close to you, and carve a life of happiness. I want to reach people who are suffering through as many types of media as possible. My goal is to publish many books....books on parenting as a Buddhist, having a successful career, generating love in your life....and on and on. I welcome calls from publishers. I also love being on the radio. I was just on the radio this week (talking about Nam Myoho Renge Kyo of course!) and my friends who listened said I should be on the radio all the time. Wouldn't that be wonderful!!! I could reach even more people. Maybe I'd have "Jamie's Chanting Hour"! How's that sound? We could chant together and I could encourage everyone through various words of Nichiren Daishonin's and Daisaku Ikeda's and fellow members all over the world. If you're a person who knows how to make these things happen I invite your emails!

Then I get dressed and drive the five minutes to my work. What I do is so much fun that it doesn't feel like work at all. I greet all my friends and I set about creating wonderful things for my students to do through my connections in the community. Sometimes I call people I don't know and make them into new friends. And I make more connections and create more events. Last week I had thirty students attend a senior fair and do blood pressure checks, glucose testing and educate people on various health related topics. I helped them network and introduce themselves to other professionals. I took pictures of their smiling faces. It was a blast. 
During the day I usually have other networking meetings with people in person, to see if there are more ways we can work together. My life is this delicious flow of encouraging people and making new friends and cultivating old ones. I truly enjoy every moment in the day. 
After work I have friends to play with, or a date with a man, or I come home to my lovely apartment and am so happy here! I love reading your emails, and writing my blog posts. 
Every Wednesday night I host a rocking Buddhist meeting in my apartment.


....and each day....I begin anew...with happiness overflowing...and so can you!! 

About a Broken Heart

Dear readers, 
I received a comment from a woman with a broken heart. She's been chanting for five months and the man that she was in love with left her and has gone away. I wish to address her here:
Dear Broken Hearted, 
Please do not give up. I can truly understand. The reason I began this blog almost two years ago was my broken heart. I was longing for a man who went away. Every morning I would wake up with his face in my mind...and I felt a constant physical ache in my belly....constant...real pain. It was hard to breathe sometimes. I felt like I was living in a nightmare of hell. 
Because of the suffering I went through then...and my fierce determination to change my life from the INSIDE so that I would never ever experience this intense pain again...this blog was born, and so was my incredibly beautiful life that I have now. 
The broken heart spurred me to chant 2 hours a day and sit in front of the Gohonzon chanting from the bottom of my soul to CHANGE MY KARMA FOREVER....to CHANGE WHATEVER WAS IN MY LIFE THAT ATTRACTED THIS HEARTACHE....AND to LOVE MYSELF SO MUCH....that this kind of pain would go away forever. 
Of course I spent a lot of time chanting to get him back too...because I believe that chanting sincerely for what you really want is the fuel that fires all your results in life. So I chanted to have him back...and gradually, over time, found other prayers that became more important to me. 
I embraced my district and chanted for each person every day. I chanted to change the heartache in my life for the sake of every woman who ever suffered in this way. 
I really know how you feel. 
If you can sit in front of your Gohonzon and chant resonant NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO for exactly what you desire...you will win. Don't worry if your desire is "correct"...ALL your desires are correct. They are yours. Chant from the bottom of your heart. USE THIS PAIN TO FUEL YOUR BEAUTIFUL FUTURE!
Here I am two years later, almost out of a marriage that was long over...I have my own sweet, beautiful little apartment in a gorgeous area with a pond, a pool and a health club. I have a miraculous new job where I am able to really have an impact on the lives of young people. I have so many friends, and even a new boyfriend who loves to make me happy, not sad. And my happiness doesn't depend on him or anything else. My focus is on doing my own human revolution, knowing that any real change happens within my life and is reflected on the outside in everything and everyone. 
That is the real key in life. Follow President Ikeda's Guidance. Chant for those you love...and those you don't love...and you WILL free yourself  from this pain. 
I promise.