I received the best compliment recently. It may not have been intended as a compliment; yet it alighted the biggest smile. As I thought about the words, “you only see what you want to see.” I felt accomplished. I felt the value in years of meditation. I felt the reward of slowing my speech to monitor my words; every second of rehearsing and searching for the positive spin to describe situations. I felt pride. This statement, even if intended as a jab, came to me like a first-place trophy. It is recognition of my diligence. I do not look to tell-a-vision, to give me the story. I pay little attention to the programming that is channeled as doom, gloom and fear. On occasion, I come face to face with the infectious negativity, but I turn away from it. I have made being happy, healthy, and wealthy my mantra. It is my ultimate goal; a peaceful state of being that I desire most. Therefore, I am vigilant to see only that which I want to see, that which fits my narrative. My positive vision.
Category: Happiness
I’m a recovering serious person. One of the first things I asked my husband a dozen years ago when we met is, “Are you ever serious?” I thought his lack of attention to things I considered important was a sign of immaturity, although he is decades my senior. Fast forward, and the tables have turned. Today, I find a mantra serves me well when I feel drug into deep wells of dark emotion. “Nothing serious is going on here.” Now, in the current times of unrest, I rely on that mantra more. It reminds me that the info coming to me is beyond my control. It reminds me that the monsters are not under my bed, but in my head. Except the monsters only come when I shift my focus to the negative – to fear, uncertainly and scarcity. Therefore, the most important tool I have continues to be my positive outlook. If you had met me a dozen years ago, it’s likely I would have been described as intense. Today, I’m described as light-hearted and optimistic. I write this to offer some comfort in these times. Our moods depend on where we place our attention. In other words, if it hurts to look at or think about, simply don’t think about it. Consciousness is our greatest gift.
FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Are you in Fear or Faith? How does one know? Stop for a second and rehearse the words. How do they feel in the body? Are you in pain or peace? Faith equals light, happy, solid. Fear equals heavy, angry, uncertain. It’s okay if you realize mostly you just feel heavy, scared, and uncertain. This is no time to JUDGE. Almost every single person is acting out of fear.
Some people’s fears are health related, some are wealth related, some are even freedom related, and some people have such density that they are just now facing this fear. They need our love and compassion. It’s a fact; that’s what the Earth needs most right now. It’s time to go within and make a choice to heal, to face up to who we are inside. It’s time to get back in touch with emotion and be so fed up with feeling bad that the only choice available is to chase happiness. We need not be afraid that to face our fears will keep us fearful, because it is the act of bringing light to dark that replaces the darkness. There needs to be no condemnation of others or ourselves. We’ve been in fear, and now we can choose faith! We can choose peace; we can choose our reality. Let’s be happy.
The world has entered uncertain times. Uncertainty is likely the biggest fear on the planet. As humans, we long to feel safe. It is in the name of safety that rules and laws are passed. Being bullied affects a victim’s perception of their own safety. It is a human’s uncanny ability for wild imagination in times of plenty or famine that has brought us all forward to this time, and to the wonderful creations in it. Laughter Yoga is one of those things! During this period of unforeseen calamity, it becomes paramount that this time must be spent witnessing our fears and clamoring to our faith. This is a moment of decision to decidedly create a better world. Now, more than ever, we must lighten up! Now, more than ever, we must choose to laugh at our fears, at our discomfort, at our situation. This is the monster under the bed, the eerie sense of doom; this entire situation with its uncertainty is exactly that great big bully called FEAR. It is time to now face this and vanquish it. There is such catharsis that comes from emitting our emotion with intentional sounds of ha ha ho he. I do hope that those who read this choose to giggle and guffaw their way to a happier outlook. Let’s find joy amidst this uncertainty.
My 19-month-old grandson pulled out all the glass vases from the cabinet. I turned the corner to find him quizzically watching me. He looked at me and said, “turkey” as he pulled out a candle holder stashed away for the autumn months. I took it as a challenge; “You gonna choose fear or faith?” One reaction resulted in no one crying, and continuing to be child-like, curious and full of wonder. The other would be to react as if the glass broke before it actually did; probably resulting in some crying, and at the very least my heart rate would have risen. If I had chosen fear, there might have even been yelling. I love how they are always looking to see how big a deal we make things. I learn so much from these littles. It wasn’t a big deal. He got to learn how to put vases away. Nothing broke. I got to savor that I can always choose my reaction. I recommend playing – really engaging – with children in a, “just roll with their imagination kind of way.” We cannot be in a state of stress and choose play. We must choose play and laughter first, with the intention to flow with ease when attending to our emotional states, staying focused on happiness.
Happiness requires action. Perhaps someone exists in perfect contentment, impervious to the world’s woes, but that isn’t me. I am a responsive being. I react to situations. I have also come to believe my happiness is independent of the will and welfare of others. Accepting my own free will, I understand that I am able to choose how to feel about events. Patterns and programming have taught me a repertoire of responses. Whether these are positive or negative feelings is largely a memory I’ve attached to specific variables. For instance, if I find out I have been lied to, it may be in my best interest to feel compassion, but it may be in my programming to be offended. From that offense, I may choose an action that will feel either good or bad. This set of events (action, response, reaction) continues until a choice to proceed differently is made. If I am bent on deliberate creation of my own happiness, I begin to process offense in new ways. I may value peace, thus choosing immediate forgiveness. I may let go of my expectations and see them as they are, coming from a place of unhappiness. Consistently, deliberately choosing to feel good becomes the new norm. There is never a good reason to stay in a state of bad feeling.