Isn’t it unrealistic to say you are happy all of the time?

Be honest! Don’t you sometimes judge the overly happy person as bit of a loose cannon? Recently, I was questioned about my happy philosophy. The dialogue went something like this:

How’s your book doing? 

I smiled and said, It is a fun project to be working on!  How are you doing? 

She ignored my question, and continued asking. “Yeah, but are people responding to your book?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Isn’t it unrealistic to say you are happy all of the time!” She smiled with some relief in setting me straight.

“Hmmm, that’s a good question!” I answered.

“Well, you can’t be living on the same planet as me if you are saying you are happy all of the time! I bet everybody figures you can’t possibly be happy all of the time. That’s just plain crazy. And, I know you’re not crazy, Barbara?!”

Wait, there’s no one asking me this question! It is a voice within me. Self doubt rears its head once again. It is very easy for me to create. It is quite another thing to look for approval for the creation. It is the underlying challenge of all creativity, especially if you wish to share it. There is always deep inside a fear to shed.

“The play was a great success, but the audience was a disaster” –

Oscar Wilde 

Yet I am inspired to continue reaching out, making it clearer. I can’t imagine a more fun way to spend my time. So I leave you with three of my favorite tried-and-true-to-me premises.

1. Happiness is always available when we want to “tune into its vibration.  Happiness is a unique energy of well-being-ness. You have it at your disposal the instant you allow your thoughts, actions, attitudes to meld with the world of happiness
2. You can only think one thought at a time.  You can hold one attitude at a time. This is beneficial to know. As soon as you find an attitude holding good feelings, you leave the uncomfortable feeling behind. What does happy feel like to you? As you become more familiar with this feeling and you think thoughts that hold this matching energy, you will naturally be happy without working at it. Happiness has a different feeling from any other emotion. I think everyone interprets happiness in different ways, so the work is keeping track of how you feel when you are happy and repeat this feeling often.
3. When starting out on this adventure, realize there are no right or wrong answers. It would be nice if we were all perfect and never unhappy, but would it? We learn by bravely trying something new. Sometimes we like it and we continue down the road. Sometimes we don’t like it and we find a different road to travel. Think about your life up to now. Didn’t you learn from each avenue you chose? When you are concerned with always being right, you become fearful of your decisions. Many times you don’t decide at all. Your emotions send uncomfortable feelings that you haven’t understood up until now. Perhaps the emotions were telling you to change course; be brave and choose a new way of thinking, loving, doing! So be brave, courageous and know if it is the wrong answer you will learn much from your travels.

To answer my question: “Isn’t it unrealistic to say you are happy all of the time!”, the answer can be yes. But it’s sure fun when you find yourself lost in activities where you laugh, dance and sing out loud with yourself and especially with others. Best to you!!

GETTING TO HAPPY: Learning To Read Emotional Messages

William Pardon Tankerfield the Third and a Googol of Wiehes

Barbara