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I have been a Buddhist for about a decade now, and one thing that the western world greatly confuses with Buddhism is the Pursuit of Happiness. People tend to believe that a Buddhist after years of practice can reach enlightenment thus experiencing Nirvana and have a life of eternal happiness. The funny thing is, the individuals who have supposedly reached this state usually then go on an attempt to make a profit. The reality of it is, is any pursuit of anything is suffering. That is not to say that you should never pursue things, just that you should know that your happiness should not derive form those pursuits. A lot of people tend to live a very binary lifestyle. We tend to look at our lives as the good and bad and neglect the rest. There will always be good and bad moments but they are such a minority in the existence of ourselves. Fractions of a percent usually account for the good and bad moments in the day, the rest are the things we tend to neglect to acknowledge. So much of our day feels so unaccounted for. I am talking about moments like driving, sleeping, eating, using the bathroom, walking from room to room, etc.. The things that truly make up your life, the moments most of us disregard. That is what Buddhism tries to teach us, to be mindful of our surrounding as much as possible. To pay attention to those moments we normally disregard, since that is what composes most of our life. You can enjoy the good times, and will most likely relish the bad, but realize those moments are the minority in your life.

What reality truly is, is only right now. The past becomes convoluted over time and eventually begins to stray from truth. The future is not existent and you can never realistically envision a 100% accurate future. If we dwell on the past, and dream about the future we will again be disregarding what matters most which is right now. Which is more times than not those same moments we disregard that I mentioned above.

Please do not take away from this, that I am saying to ignore the past and never dream of the future. Please do have memories, and please do have goals and aspirations for the future. Just be aware of now, as that is what matters most. Now doesn't have to be spectacular, but it is what counts most.