Today I Choose to be Blissful – How to be Blissful

It was another crazy day – work stressful, blazing hot outside, everyone around me stressed. I’d been at my computer since seven that morning, eating crackers and drinking cold coffee without even noticing it had gone cold. Then I heard the rumbling of a Florida summer storm moving in. Something made me look up from my screen and step onto the back porch to watch the squall line approach.

Sitting there, watching that wall of weather advance with magnificent power and beauty, I felt more at peace than I had all week. I discovered something profound: sometimes the most blissful thing you can do is stop fighting the storm and start witnessing it.

Why Finding Your Center Matters More After 50

Here’s what we learn at this stage of life: bliss isn’t about perfect circumstances or the absence of problems. It’s about finding that calm center within ourselves where we can witness life’s storms without being destroyed by them.

We’ve weathered enough chaos by now to recognize the difference between fighting reality and flowing with it. We understand the exhaustion that comes from constantly pushing against circumstances we can’t control, and we’re finally ready to discover the peace available in acceptance and presence.

Research shows that people who develop the ability to observe their challenges with equanimity rather than reactivity experience lower stress levels and better decision-making capabilities during difficult periods.

Why This Skill Becomes More Essential with Age

The good news? We’ve lived through enough storms to know they’re temporary. We understand that resistance often creates more suffering than the actual difficulty we’re facing.

The challenge? Life often feels more intense now. Health concerns, aging parents, financial worries, relationship complexities – the storms feel bigger and more consequential than they did in our twenties.

But this is exactly why learning to find our “porch” becomes crucial. We need that place of calm observation more than ever, not because life has gotten easier, but because we’ve gotten wiser about where to invest our limited energy.

Common Obstacles to Blissful Acceptance

Many of us struggle with guilt about finding peace when there are problems to solve. We think bliss means not caring, when it actually means caring without being consumed.

Others confuse bliss with passivity, believing that accepting circumstances means giving up on changing them. True bliss actually gives us the clarity and energy to take wise action from a centered place.

Some of us have become so accustomed to stress and urgency that peace itself feels foreign or even dangerous – like we’ll lose our edge or miss something important if we relax.

How to Find Your Eye of the Storm

Create physical spaces that represent calm for you. Whether it’s a chair by a window, a spot in your garden, or just a corner of your bedroom, have a place you can go to shift from participant to witness.

Practice observing your own chaos with curiosity rather than judgment. When your day feels like a storm, ask yourself: “What would this look like if I were watching it unfold rather than being swept up in it?”

Notice what you’re trying to control that’s actually beyond your influence. The timing of outcomes, other people’s reactions, the “weather” of your emotions – these are all storms you can witness rather than control.

Find your version of storm-watching. What natural phenomenon helps you remember that some things are larger than your individual concerns? Rain, wind, changing seasons, sunrise, sunset?

Questions for Reflection

What “storms” in your life are you currently fighting that might be more productive to witness?

Where is your version of the back porch – that space where you can step back from immediate drama and find perspective?

What aspects of your current “weather” might actually be magnificent if you could see them as temporary natural phenomena rather than personal attacks?

The Power of Stepping Back

When we learn to find that place of calm observation, we discover something remarkable: we can experience chaos around us while maintaining peace within us. This isn’t detachment or not caring – it’s engaged presence without drowning.

From this centered place, we make better decisions, communicate more clearly, and actually become more helpful to others who are struggling. We become a source of stability rather than another element adding to the chaos.

Permission to Step Onto Your Porch

You have permission to step onto your metaphorical porch anytime life feels overwhelming. You don’t have to be in the thick of every drama, solve every problem, or fix every situation causing chaos around you.

Sometimes the most loving, responsible thing you can do is find that place of calm observation where you can witness what’s happening with clarity instead of reacting from overwhelm.

Today, choose to be blissful – not because everything is calm and perfect, but because you’ve learned to find your center in whatever situation you’re facing. When your day feels like one crisis after another, when you find yourself eating crackers at your desk without noticing, remember: you have permission to step back.

The bliss isn’t waiting for the storm to pass. It’s available right now, in the eye of whatever storm you’re experiencing. You just have to be willing to stop struggling against what’s happening and start being present with the magnificent chaos of being alive.

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