Happiness IS a Choice

I know there are a lot of people who would love to push back at me for making such a statement, but it’s the conclusion I (as well as many others) have drawn. See it goes a little something like this, if you believe that your thoughts create your reality, which there are numerous spiritual groups as well as scientists who have discussed this concept at great length, that would mean that EVERYTHING we have ever experienced is a result of our consistent pattern of thinking. So, if that’s the case, then our own happiness is our own hands.

Most would say, “Well I am not choosing to be unhappy, I just am.” And they would also insist that “if” they had the ability to make the conscious choice, they would chose happiness. Well, isn’t that something? Allowing ourselves to fall back into our usual, comfortable, patterns of thinking, is still a choice, now isn’t it? When we insist on seeing life only as it is now, instead of making the attempt to see things as we would like them to be, we are making a choice, whether we want to admit it or not. Consistently falling back on the same kneejerk reactions, to the same types of experiences, is only going to produce the same kind of results. You can’t, in one breath, say you want to be happy, then, in the next breath, continue with the exact same type of unhappy thoughts and behaviors that have been perpetuating the unhappiness you want to avoid. This is like consistently banging your head against a brick wall, while wishing your head would stop hurting, then getting angry at the brick wall for the headache.

The longer we choose to focus on what makes us unhappy, we will only bring on more unhappiness, because that is where our attention lies. But if, in the moment of conflict, we CHOOSE to even attempt to look for something about the situation to feel better about, therein lies the change we desire. It will become more common for us to work to feel better, than to work to feel sad. They are both work, it’s just that we’ve done one for so long, it’s become second nature (or just nature). We have the power to turn that around if we so choose and allow the more natural choice to become the predominantly positive one.  

Love,

Quote of the Week

"The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does."  James M. Barrie


Just the simple rearrangement of words brings forth a whole new meaning. Most people tend to think that if they had everything they could have ever asked for, only then would they be happy. What most tend to forget or fail to realize, is that when you enjoy whatever you are doing, even if it seems to be some mundane repetitive task, then that’s when true happiness occurs. This is what makes it truly possible to live and enjoy each moment to the fullest that we possibly can. And what could be better than finding a reason to smile each and every day? If nothing else, it’s certainly worth a try. 

Marathon Training

At the end of April I will be participating in my first marathon. Most people don’t decide to run a marathon and just show up at the scheduled date with no training. A marathon takes preparation to build strength and endurance of the mind and body.  Over time, a marathon runner will train, slowly increasing both attributes until they are able to cover the distance. As I’ve started training, I’ve realized that this process is similar to what it takes for creation/manifestation. Things don’t happen all at once. Over time (hopefully), we learn to see life experiences as the lessons they are and decide on whether we are happy with what we have now, or if we’d like to move in a different direction. Moving in a different direction takes time and focus, as far as training our minds and beliefs in the direction we would like for them to go. We won’t just show up at the end result without doing the work to conceptualize our vision; learn to turn our thoughts and beliefs into a positive direction regarding what we are wanting and then allowing ourselves to follow the guidance/intuition from the source. If we could trust in our own spiritual processes, in the same manner we trusted our marathon training; just think how much power our manifestations could really have.

Love,

Quote of the Week

“Worrying is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.” Unknown

Absolutely one of the most fabulous quotes EVAH! I mean really… seriously… these few words speak such large volumes about the subject. Humans tend to be such control freaks even when we don’t mean to be. We say we are going to follow the process. We do all this work to focus on that we want and to visualize our dreams in such great clarity, it could rival the highest quality HDMI TV, but then we try to physical CONTROL how it’s all going to come about. Instead of letting go, to allow the universe/higher mind/inner being/source energy to do its work, we allow our egos to force us into to trying to take control. We are afraid that if we don’t grab the reigns and dictate the details then it won’t happen. In essence we (in the words of Bashar) “try to worry things into existence,” because we don’t truly have faith in the process. We hold ourselves in the same pattern of life, because while on one hand we focus on what we want, we continue to WORRY about the things we don’t want (which are often things we are already experiencing and trying to “get away” from).

So I’ve decided that from now on, I am going to allow myself to enjoy life as it comes. I will still focus on the inception of things I desire, but once the vision is deeply rooted within me, I am going to do my best to surrender it to the universe and allow my higher mind to do its job, while freeing my physical consciousness to enjoy the manifestations of my current situations.  

Avoidance

Sooooooooo… maybe I’ve discovered that I may have been avoiding things. Sure everyone avoids things, but these things could be a detriment (and in some cases are) to my overall growth and wellbeing. Recently, I was once again presented with an opportunity to face emotions from a past experience (long past).  I’m not sure if you’ve ever avoided something due to feeling inept or just plain ole’ uncomfortable, but I have… and apparently I still was. Last week I finally allowed myself to deal with some seemingly jumbled up emotions I had been refusing to deal with. I knew deep inside the vortex of uneasiness swirling within me had the potential to take me to a place of sadness or even anger, that I had no desire to visit. On the other hand there was also the potential that if I faced the truth, the root of those feelings, that all could be resolved and I would receive clarity.

After all this time I was able to take the plunge, and put my ego aside in order to choose clarity. The time had come to face my true feelings about past experiences, accept them as they were and allow myself to prosper. I allowed my thoughts and feelings to go deep within and hash out all of the causes for the clutter. During my journey I permitted myself to acknowledge the true feelings I had regarding past experiences, instead of just what my ego thought I should feel.  I let go of the denial and embraced the bare-naked reality. I mourned what felt like the loss of something wonderful, so that I could let go and make space for something even better, even greater to fill this now wonderfully open space. I decided to no longer block the manifestations of what I did want in order to hold on to past experiences of what I did not want. And so it was and still is. 

Quote of the Week

“If you want something you’ve never had before, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done before.” Drina Reed

I couldn’t love this quote more, even if I’d come up with it myself. How many times have we seen people out in the world, trying their hardest to get new results out of the same old efforts? Everything they do is the same day and after day and they wonder why life never improves. And even further, it’s the energy behind the actions that causes the most hindrance. Repeatedly people get up in the morning, and hate it. They go to work, and they hate it. They rush through the rest of their day with themselves and their families, hating that they have to rush just so they can get enough rest to go to the jobs they all hate… and they hate, and they hate, and they hate… and.. they… hate.

But what if they stepped outside of that comfort zone and were willing to stop blaming the outside world for all the things they hate? What if, even though they still might do the same or similar things day by day, they would be willing to change the energy behind all those actions? What if they could focus on being the beacon of light and positivity in their own lives, (and in the process the lives of others) instead of looking for others to provide it. What if they could look forward to feeling good about the lives they have, and being appreciative, instead of being spiteful. What if? What if? What if? What if?

Enough?

So I was in line in a local grocery store and I overheard (no I was not snooping) a conversation in front of me. Two gentleman were talking about Tom Brady (yes the quarterback, yes I do watch football… don’t judge me). I’ve noticed a lot of people really can’t stand this particular quarterback (the two men in front of me included). And they were talking about the fact that he REALLY desires to win a fourth championship. The words spoken were something along the lines of he’s won three championships already, wakes up next to a super model and is totally rich. Then the guy goes on to say, “Hasn’t God blessed you enough?”

Ok I’m really skipping past the religious connotations of people not being able to receive things unless they receive/earn some sort of blessing by way of performing specific acts or rituals (really that’s not what my blog is about). But I was more focused on the fact that this person in front of me was of the belief that at some point in life, you should stop wanting more. My question is, WHY?!

To me this is a stark example of why most people can’t get more, or most, or even any of what they feel they want. The thing that stands out to me is that this person appears to be operating from a perception of lack. If Tom Brady has too much then he is taking away from some other “more deserving” person. Now true, only one person can win a championship at a time, but there is one every year, so it’s not like it’s never going to come around again. His wife isn’t the only super model in the world and money is abundant if you allow it into your life. How then, if Tom Brady gets another championship is anyone being slighted? And why is his desire for wanting more a bad or wrong thing? He is following the desire within, obviously this is the case or he wouldn’t be as passionate about it.

Here’s something to consider. If we could stop telling people like Tom Brady what they do and don’t deserve maybe we could focus most of our attention on manifesting the things WE want for OURSELVES. People see a sports figure and all of the money he/she has but they don’t know the time, thought and energy that person or those people have put into being successful. Paying attention to how much we don’t feel someone else deserves something is operating from a point of lack. We feel if they take all of whatever it is, then there won’t be enough for us. It’s not even about them not deserving what they have, but us (because of prior teachings) believing that to want more and so much is wrong and or gluttonous. We feel guilty about wanting more and thus project those negative thoughts onto others, insisting that they shouldn’t have or want more either.

When the fact of the matter is, wanting more is why we came to be in the first place. Our inner being wanted to expand more and thus came into these physical bodies to enjoy the process of creation in the physical world. If that is not the case then why do we feel so enlightened when we allow ourselves to relax and enjoy life? That is our inner being saying, “Yes! Wonderful, enjoy life and all it brings.” The good feeling sure as hell doesn’t mean, no please stop enjoying life you shouldn’t want more! So maybe the next time we see someone like Tom Brady and start to feel negativity about all that someone like him has earned, by being in alignment with it, perhaps we should examine why. What are we holding ourselves back from, that we truly desire that is causing us to feel envious of someone who didn’t hold back and went for it all. We ALL may be surprised at what we find.