Hi everyone! I’m looking forward to the completion of a work-in-process: Getting To Happy. It should be ready for print in December! What a wonderful, fun project. It just keeps getting better.
Here is a partial draft as an introduction. Enjoy! And, keep smiling!
My Loyalty To Happiness
This book is written for me, and offered to you! I find myself struggling when I unconsciously observe situations around me. I often observe sickness, aging, repetitive suffering, misunderstanding, inability to relate in ways that inspire and allow happiness. I know happiness exists eternally somewhere deep inside. I want to revisit my natural inclination to live a happier, more satisfying life. I want to develop physical representations that are pleasing to me by elevating my attitude. I invite you to come along with me. If you are serious about living a happy life, this can be the book to visit often.
I have been told repeatedly that all good things must come to an end. Family members have insinuated that you can’t be happy all the time. Even though I find myself sinking beyond my natural state of happiness, I firmly believe it is always present. It is up to me to allow the frequency that matches happiness. Happiness is my natural state of being. It is possible to live happily ever after. It is possible to conduct myself within certain attitudes that match happiness. There is little to be gained for me to resonate with the lower vibrations of negative thinking. Happiness doesn’t live there. You can disagree with me. You may consider the pursuit of happiness an immature way to approach life. We are free beings capable of choosing any number of thoughts and attitudes. These writings will help you recognize the connection between your thoughts and attitudes, the guiding force of emotional energy and your physical and material outcomes.
I leave the world of happiness whenever I block my natural pathway with negative illusionary thoughts such as irritation, frustration, worry, apprehension, anger and despair. The experience can be like finding myself within a pinball game where my thoughts bounce back and forth against bumper synapses. I may find myself a long way from happiness, when I am comparing myself to family and friends. As I become aware of these thoughts, and reign them in, I can immediately enter the world of satisfaction and peace. When I am not focusing on fears and concerns provided me by the world news, I can immediately enter the world of quiet, cooperation and love.
Happy thoughts cause life-changing, waves of vibration that travel well beyond what I could ever do with actions stemming from duty or guilt. I have taught myself to replace negative words with those that hold positivity. Then any actions will collaborate with joy. Your world will always be what you imagined.
I have always considered myself intuitive. Certain feelings made me think I was receiving cautionary messages from someone who had a bigger vision than I. I would not go into a store when this negative feeling came to me. Or I would choose another campsite when this uneasy feeling came over me. I sometimes would get a hunch about someone.
I understood negative feelings to be messages directing me to avoid certain danger. I imagined that I was being protected. I became apt at recognizing these emotions and responding accordingly.
I was vigilant. I watched for negative emotions. I recoiled and ceased to participate until I could feel better. I was proud that I could recognize these messages and save myself from an unknown fear!
I now realize that these interpretations are not only rescuing me from unhappy situations, they are putting me in a cloister safety zone. I can continue using negative emotions as my personal safety net, but my life becomes narrower and narrower.
Participation is one of my biggest desires. Yet my desires were conflicted by refraining to participate. I needed to take a second look at my attitude.
True or False: Negative emotions send messages of fear-and-flight?
Yes and no. The question is, has this understanding of intuition served me? I can only decide this from looking at my life experiences.
Fleeing more and more opportunities because I feel the “fear emotion” has trended toward isolation and a non-social lifestyle. It has permitted me to write, paint, play music, meditate and enjoy nature. but is this the only lifestyle I want? Don’t I love being and sharing with people?
The flee or non-participation approach seemed to work fine for me at one point in my life. Now it doesn’t.
If I felt a negative emotion when I was invited to a party, I would politely give reasons why I could not go. I read articles that confirmed it was a better idea to Just say no! than to force yourself to do something you didn’t want to do. It was confusing. If I was invited to go on an outing and received a negative emotion, I would not go. If I got an idea to call a friend and a negative emotion came up, I would put off the phone call. I actually believed this would help me. I thought to myself, My timing may be off and it is not a good time to call. I was pretty proud of this intuitive gift of safety.
This approach led down a path where I convinced myself I was predestined to have a more quiet life. This is something I would need to accept. As time went on, friends gave up on me, thinking that I wasn’t interested in them or what they did. I had little idea that this approach was leading to the opposite lifestyle that I desired.
And here is wherein the premise is faulty for me. There is more lovely and luscious life to experience! I am tending more toward the belief it is possible to be safe, enter into unknown situations, and interpret your uneasy emotions as Please take a second look! It could hold the kind of adventure you are looking for. I now am moving ahead into new spheres of my life. How this will happen? Life experiences are my only way of knowing.
Life experience tells me that I can participate by changing my point of talking about a situation or thinking about a situation. Life experience tells me that there is always time to stop and listen to the thoughts that feel bad. When I hear the thoughts, I have the opportunity to see through different eyes. In changing my thoughts to a more comfortable, positive attitude about my situation, I change my situation… every time!
So, the way I was thinking of a friend who I wanted to call but didn’t, was triggering an uneasy feeling. I realized I was thinking I might be bothering my friend so I didn’t call. I consciously changed my thoughts to I always am a loving person and my friends feel good when I call . Now it is easier to call. Now I have something to give.
I know that my attitude can change my ability to see what is in front of me. Attitudes are like great, magical glasses. They can change the look of anything! …and instantly! My cautionary feelings are alerts to look at things in a new light. You never know what you will see differently. You never know what can develop within one day when you take second and third looks!
I hope these words are helpful to you and look forward to hearing about your attitude perspectives. Today is a good day to have a good day!
What if you think of love as an energy force that mirrors whatever it hears from you? What if you think of love as an energy force that is as close to you as you are to yourself?
You use a heart drawing as a symbol of love. I heart you. Everyone recognizes its meaning.
The heart has been beating ever since it became a heart. It continually beats without stopping until the day you leave your body. This symbol of love reminds you that life is constantly working in the background and constantly available to you.
When you do not understand how life works, you can become confused and feel like a leaf whirling about in the wind. Yet the energy of love continues to beat within every situation at hand. Because love is non-physical it has the power to expand and duplicate situations that match your desires. If you run, your heart beats faster. If you go to sleep your heart beats to a slower pace. Love expands all physical situations and is attentive to whatever direction you wish to take. You may think you want to be happy, but your inner conversation complains about this or that. These complaints are heard and activated. Your complaints are what love expands for you. Is this something you have ever thought about?
You may not be aware of this interpretation. I hope it is helpful to you. You may not be aware that love gives you whatever you want! Now that you are aware, be careful about what you ask for in you thoughts and conversations. And, what about complaining? When you complain you send requests that say you want to experience what the complaint looks like.
This sense of expanding seems like something new, You find yourself in a situation you do not like and you become frightened by the situation. You become more and more concerned and the situation seems to get worse. More things happen that make you frightened.
Example One: You find that your coffee machine is broken. It makes you clearly upset because you won’t have your coffee before leaving for work. You begin to feel bad about your whole life. While you get dressed, you remember how unlucky you are that you never have won the lottery. It’s a recurring thought and it seems perfectly normal to have this thought as you get ready for work. You go into your closet and feel you can’t find a thing to wear! You walk out to the car and step in a muddy puddle. You say, Well, that’s just fine! I’m a total failure!. You go in and clean up your shoes, and your internal conversation goes on. You think about how your mother told you how careless you are. You begin to believe her. You stand up, look at the clock on the stove and see you are running 15 minutes late. How did that happen?! Can’t I even keep track of time. No wonder I don’t get promotion! You get in and start the car, and drive to the end of the street. Sure, the traffic light can’t even help me! you yell. It appears that the light is stuck! You wait and wait and wait! …and feel miserable!
Example Two: You find that your coffee machine is broken. You are surprised, but you are trained to STOP and PAUSE. You look out the window and see the beautiful sunshine and watch a bird pecking around in your garden. You look back at the coffee machine and remember it appears broken. You then remember that you have a French Press somewhere in the cupboard. You get some water to boil. You begin to feel that this day is going to be a fun adventure. You remember how much you love French Press coffee, and now have this opportunity. While you wait for the water to boil, you finish dressing and think about how much you love the outfit you’ve put together. You turn on some music, put the water into the French Press, squeeze the grounds and enjoy the aroma of the coffee. Everything good always happens to me! you hear yourself say. You put your coffee into a traveling mug and head for the door. You feel great and enjoy the front yard You see the mud puddle and miss it entirely. You drive with ease and care. You are ready to stop at the traffic light, but it continues to be green. You begin to think about work and how you can make it a better place today! There’s a parking place right in front of your workplace, and you weren’t even looking for one. Life is always great for you!
These examples demonstrate how the energy of love expands and contracts according to your thoughts. Change always matches your inner conversations, your inner attitudes, your fears and your confidence. If you have been following these blogs, you know things are going to continue to expand in a direction that of your thoughts. Your love energy is matching your internal conversation just as it matches the beating of your heart when you are running or sleeping.
You may have been threatened by the expansion and contractions of situations Up to now, you may have become fearful of bad situations and changes in your life.
How can we handle the fear of change?
Previously we have talked about listening to our emotions.
You can first STOP/PAUSE and look away to something more pleasing, then look back at the changed situation with new eyes. Unless there is a true life/death situation, you do not need to react immediately. And, you never need to give into negative impulses.
Ask yourself, how will this situation change with negative attitudes? if I allow negative impulses to direct me, how will I ever get out of this situation? You are in a world where the basis of who you are matches your every thought. When you don’t like something, STOP/PAUSE. Then ACCEPT THE SITUATION. Accept it as a mirror of what you’ve been thinking about lately. Make a note to change your way of complaining or talking or thinking. Start looking at a brighter side of life and brighter situations will naturally follow.
When you begin to experiment with this basic idea, you will see just how futile it is to place blame on others. You are free to suffer and you are free to flourish. Negative thoughts can only produce negative situations. Positive thoughts can only produce positive situations. …. Something to think about today.
Are you aware of how you approach the precious moments when you wake up?
Let’s make an assessment.
Do you check your body to see if you still have that ache in your leg, or a cold?
Do you rehash an argument you had the day before with a friend?
Do you begin to worry again over your finances?
Do you start to plan and then fret over the project that is still unfinished?
Do you check the latest news headlines?
Can you think of other worrisome thoughts that greet you each day?
These may not be thoughts that are the best for starting your day. There is little happiness in any of these concerns, wouldn’t you agree?
Each day offers a clean slate into the happy life you seek. You can seize this opportunity by guiding your thoughts towards what feels good.
You can begin a little ritual upon waking up. Become aware of how good your body feels wrapped in your cozy blankets. Enjoy the good feeling of your pillows. Feel the wonder of just waking up! Yesterday’s burdens can wait. This is a time for you to enjoy life. These are the precious moments of the day. Remember, pursuit of happiness? If not now, when? Here’s what we can do each day.
Upon waiting up, take advantage of the safety of the moment. Approach these moments with the good feelings that make you smile inside. These few moments upon waking are yours. These moments are your key to a happier day.
On those days when you wake up and find you are still locked into yesterday’s concerns, stop the thoughts by changing your actions. Get up when you are lost in the same worrisome thoughts. Begin an action that makes you feel better. Here are some ideas.
Just go back to sleep and reset.
Get up. Look in the bathroom mirror and give yourself that knowing smile. –You know, the smile, that remembers how cute or clever or funny or bright or awesome you are.
Listen to a motivational talk on-line as you get ready for the day. (There are countless tapes available.)
Listen to your favorite upbeat music.
Look out the window and let yourself enjoy nature
Write a list of activities that would be fun right now if you were someone else
Most of all, find actions that feel good. Allow yourself to be happy first, every day upon awaking, no matter what. Be committed to how you feel. Appreciate what feels good for a few moments every day before you take on any responsibilities. Make a habit of this: Wake up! Appreciate what makes you feel good!
This simple change in how you begin your day, promises to allow new opportunities to unfold during the day. You control the amount of improvement in your life. Opening up the happiness valve at the on-start of day, supports your plans to achieve during the day: to complete your project, heal your illness, complete your project with more ease, to make the world a better place.
Wake up! Appreciate what makes you feel good! That’s good advice because it works! If you know someone who is struggling through their days, please share this article with them and we’ll both make a happier world.
There are many opportunities to change unhappy situations around us. I guess we just don’t know that we have that power!
Somehow we have come to believe that the only way to change a situation is to fight against it. It appears that when bad things happen, we spend the majority of time talking about it and shaking our heads in confusion. We talk and read about things we don’t like and we are confused how these things continue to escalate.
This happens with world current events and it happens in our world. Situations present themselves to us; we may not be aware that it is our response to the situation that holds more of the same or changes everything.
I am speaking about situations that are within your present moment awareness. If you think about it, there are millions, no billions, no an infinite amount of situations taking place at any moment. You are aware of only one of these situations at a time.
Interesting perception! Only the situations that are within your awareness are the situations you believe as true. But to another person, even a person in the same room, this very situation that holds all of your attention may not even exist in their world.
So what is it about situations that have the power to enthrall us or crumble our confidence? What really are situations? What part of a situation is an illusion? How can situations change in time? Where are we, anyway?
More interesting questions! Here are my answers for now. We may be amazing beings who are able to create situational moments that are so detailed they can fool even ourselves. We create these situations to objectify our thoughts. We can expand as we see what we want and what we don’t want, and even what we want to explore further.
This type of perspective can be very helpful in changing situations that are unpleasant to us. We now have a way to move on to the next lesson when we accept the situation in front of us. We don’t have to respond to it or necessarily suffer from it. The suffering may be coming from an illusion we desire to experience. Why would you want to suffer, you ask?
I do not know. I do know, however, that if I don’t want to suffer, and I believe I do not need to suffer, I will begin to live a completely different life. It may seem like a miracle. It may seem like a brand new door appears from nowhere, and opens up a new reality. It has the power to surprise and delight me.
By accepting the situation in front of you, by keeping your heart open with optimism and love, great things can emerge. Think about it. You have probably already experienced moments of exhilaration at one time or another. Can you remember a lovely situation that completely embraced you? You may have sustained the experienced the happy situation for hours, even days. Then, you become a little uneasy and questioned whether this kind of well-being was a bit naive You may have closed the door and entered another irritating situation that felt more familiar. But it was miserable. Hopefully, this article will open more doors to happy situations. The first step is to allow or accept the door as it presents itself. There is paradise on earth. It is up to us to find and allow it through trial and error.
The sooner you realize your inner power to create your reality, the sooner you will be able to break the cycle of pain and suffering. I welcome your thoughts on this topic. Life can be just as amazing as us! It is up to us!
Peace! My upcoming blog hopefully can give some practical ways to change your situations through acceptance. I look forward to seeing what will come out of these fingers! Thank you for reading.
This is my contribution. I am writing to those who, like me, are not particularly inclined to speak up politically to deaf ears.
I am proposing very elementary first steps in bringing a change to the presence of semi-automatic assault rifles. Perhaps they have already been addressed. But they are important enough to me to chance repetition.
Arguments with the NRA or the current government electorate appears to be ineffectual. I live a peaceful life. But even I feel I must try to do something about people being shot randomly while going about their peaceful and productive lives.
It now is perfectly clear to me that what is referred to as assault rifles are designed to kill people in large numbers. Peaceful people don’t really think about guns, especially rapid firing guns. Perhaps we can remain peaceful, and yet create a non-governmental solution to the challenge of non-peaceful people taking our lives prematurely.
ACTIONS WE CAN TAKE, without even leaving our homes:
Retailers: Discontinue selling semi-automatic assault rifles and any other guns that can produce rapid fire on groups of people. Do this today.
Consumers: Discontinue to shop in stores where these assault rifles are sold, including gun shows, to encourage the elimination of this inventory. Do this today.
Use social media. Visit these stores’ pages and continue to comment your encouragement to discontinue selling assault rifles and empty your inventory responsibly.
Become familiar with gun show conventions. A simple google search will uncover a world that most of us are unfamiliar with. Encourage the dis-allowing of assault weapons inventory at conventions.
Manufacturers: If you must make assault rifles for armed forces, stop making financial gains by selling to the public for sport. Keep assault rifles out of the hands of civilians and peace officers.
Use social medial. Visit these manufacturers on-line and continue to encourage manufacturers to open their minds to the well-being of ordinary people.
People who already own these assault weapons: please oversee the destruction of these weapons. These are not sport weapons. The risk of owning these assault weapons (getting into the wrong hands for mass murder) far exceed the benefits of having fun.
Everything is possible in love. As you write and talk with people, stay within the power of love.
I realize that fear is a self-created emotion that causes some to defend illusionary enemies. Until we can get rid of this fear, let us take defensive assault weapons out of the equation. Let us do this first in the market place. I hope these comments are helpful. Please do what inspires you to bring about a more peaceful world within you.
I’m talking about cautionary feelings today!
Are you aware of how you approach the precious moments when you wake up?
