The Pursuit Of Happiness
The Pursuit Of Happiness Doesn't Have To Be A Pursuit At All. Happiness Is A Way Of Thinking, Perceiving And Looking
At Life and The World. It's A State Of Being
![Happiness Happiness](http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/images/happiness.jpg)
The purpose of our lives is to be happy. ~ The Dalai LamaHappiness. You hear that word a lot and perhaps even ponder on it often as many do. As much as people "think" about it, have you ever really thought about what it would be like to be consistently happy? I don't mean a superficial form of temporarily being happy...I mean REALLY REALLY happy always in ALL ways. The kind of Happiness I'm referring to is an "unconditional" form of happiness.
If so, but you're not quite sure how to create this form of happiness for yourself, or even if you currently "believe" that it's not possible, you'll find tremendous benefit in what you're about to discover. That's precisely what we'll be covering here.
How to get happy and stay happy...regardless.
Before you start rolling your eyes and expressing any doubts or apprehension regarding your individual ability to become and stay "really happy", I'm going to ask that you keep an open mind and temporarily let go of any of the doubts, apprehensions or preconceived notions you might have regarding happiness and your ability to experience it for yourself. I'll ask that you do so just long enough to consider and allow the following perspective to soak in a bit.
As you'll find, regardless of what you might currently believe or perceive to be true regarding happiness in general and your individual ability to experience it for yourself, it's more than possible, it's attainment is the "Ultimate Goal" in life and easily attainable by anyone who "chooses" to experience it for themselves.
To get there though...to enter into this "unconditionally happy place", it's going to be necessary to look at and question some of our current beliefs with regard to happiness and life in general. It's going to require a willingness to really look at and explore how it is that our beliefs and perceptions and these things alone that either allow or keep happiness from becoming our "normal state."
Don't misunderstand, it's not my intent to change your beliefs but rather challenge and get you thinking more about some of the beliefs that you currently hold which may be keeping you from experiencing this "unconditional form of happiness we're referring to.
It's not my job or intent to judge or determine your beliefs for you, but rather enhance and elevate your awareness enabling you to "effortlessly" elevate the beliefs that may be keeping you from seeing how "real and true" a life filled with happiness...unconditional happiness, can be for you.
It could provide precisely what you need to become the most happy person alive...one of them at least. A willingness on your part to engage yourself and become "really conscious" of the beliefs that you hold with regard to happiness goes far beyond just being happy as most people define happiness which is for the most part temporary and finite.
The kind of happiness that we'll be exploring and learning to experience for ourselves is more than a moment by moment I'm happy then I'm not thing.
It's an ALL THE TIME thing...Let's call it "Real Happiness Unconditionally."
It's not an external form of happiness.
We're talking about a kind and quality of happiness that goes to the bone...beyond the bone. It penetrates the soul. It becomes a deeply ingrained habit that nothing can shake except for you.
You'll be presented with the opportunity to understand that not only is "unconditional happiness" a very real and attainable state of "being" that's attainable for you and anyone else, you'll also understand how to create and experience this "unconditional happiness" in every aspect of your life...an unconditional, unshakable and immutable form of happiness.
That's what real happiness is. It's not dependent on things in life going a certain way or people acting or doing things that rub you wrong or go against your individual preferences.
It's a choice that can be developed into a habit and consistently experienced and yes it is as simple as you making the choice to choose it for yourself. Happiness is up to you and you alone.
That's one thing that most overlook with regard to happiness. Happiness is nothing more than a habit just as misery and unhappiness are habits. You already have the tools and the ability to make unconditional happiness both a habit and a reality in your life as well.
It simply requires a choice on your part to utilize them. It's more than a choice like so many that are made and are so prevalent today...meaning the many "unconscious choices" that so many make which through this chosen way of being, they are "unknowingly and unconsciously" creating "undesirable outcomes for themselves.
Happiness...unconditional happiness is created and sustained by becoming aware and once achieved applying that awareness in a "conscious and consistent" manner.
Whether you currently understand or believe it or not, unconditional happiness isn't dependent on anyone or anything but you.
That's what it is that you're looking for isn't it? That's why you do certain things, buy certain things, strive to achieve certain things. You do them because you think that accomplishing this goal or getting that thing, whatever IT might be, is going to make you or at least bring you one step closer to the ultimate experience that everyone strives toward and aspires to be which is happy.
Happiness...unconditional happiness is available to you, me and anyone else who chooses it for themselves although if you talk about happiness with the vast majority, you'd find that it eludes most...or at least that's what the vast majority of those seeking it out "perceive" to be happening.
It's not that happiness is eluding anyone at all. It's readily available. In fact it's already a part of you...a very real part. It's simply a matter of the vast majority "unconsciously choosing" something other than what they truly aspire to experience for themselves. It's called "unconscious creation." There are a number of people that unknowingly walk this path...this "unconscious creation path."
What does that mean exactly?
Although EVERYONE wants to know what it is to experience unconditional happiness in their lives, they are, in the majority of cases unconsciously choosing something different...something that is conflicting with what they "truly want" which is happiness.
The pursuit of happiness is what every person on earth aspires to be, do and have in their lives. Although it's attainment is often sought after and often "perceived" as being achieved in an infinite number of external ways...meaning that it's often perceived as being made real and possible through the acquisition of "stuff", it's not that at all. Happiness is NOT something that needs to be acquired or sought out at all.
It simply needs to be created and it's creation doesn't happen in the way most people "think" it does. That's precisely why the vast majority of people in the world aren't "truly" happy. They have simply developed habits that conflict with creating what they "claim" they want.
I know a number of people who have a LOT of stuff yet regardless of how many accomplishments they may have under their belt or how much "stuff" they've acquired in the process are far from the "ultimate Goal" of experiencing unconditional happiness.
I'm going to ask that you take the time to really focus on and absorb what we'll be covering here. That you really "think about" what it "truly is" to be happy...what it means for you to be unconditionally happy so that you might experience this unconditional happiness for yourself.
It doesn't matter where you're starting from or how close or far you might "perceive" happiness to be from you. You'll begin to see and understand that you can experience happiness regardless...unconditional happiness starting right now, which by the way ALWAYS enhances "external results."
That's the really cool part about this happiness thing is that we discover that getting what we want doesn't make us happy but getting happy produces what we want. A lot of people are simply attempting to create this unconditional happiness backwards which is precisely why only a small minority ever experience it.
Perhaps based on where you currently find yourself, you may even "perceive" that happiness is for everyone else but not for you. You may not ever even think about the possibility of YOU becoming happy...REALLY happy, simply because of the past and present experiences you've encountered throughout your life.
If so, this is ESPECIALLY for you!!
You'll soon understand that regardless of where you are in life or the results you've experienced, regardless of how bad and unpleasant you might "perceive" them to be, you can shift the kind and quality of those results simply by making the "internal shifts" that we'll be covering here.
You may not have thought about it much before but I'm asking that you think about it now. REALLY think about it. That's why most anybody does anything. They seek and long to be happy. For the most part they fully believe that doing this thing or getting that thing or accomplishing a specific endeavor will bring them one step closer to the highly sought after "happiness experience."
Yet as so many find whenever they achieve or get or accomplish this "thing"...it NEVER does. Why? Because happiness isn't based on anything that you acquire or accomplish. It's not an external thing that you get. It's an internal way of being that you become.
Happiness is a way of being.
Being isn't an external thing at all...it's an internal thing.
External means...all these things that we "do" and acquire and accomplish, fully believing that they'll somehow make us happy, although they might create a shallow and temporary form of happiness for a time, always wears off. The novelty and the excitement fades and we go back into our habitual and often times self sabotaging way of being in the world once the temporary sense of excitement of acquiring this new and shiny thing or achieving that outcome fades.
This temporary and shallow way of attempting to find this "happiness" always goes away, almost as quickly and in some cases much more quickly than the time it took to create the outcome that enabled us to "temporarily" experience this happiness that we "thought" it would provide.
So what does this temporary way of creating happiness do?
It keeps us looking in all the wrong places.
We go about our lives attempting to get something more or accomplish something else fully believing that this time it really is going to make and keep us happy. We reason with ourselves that once we accomplish this thing, once we acquire this shiny and expensive toy, once we meet our soul mate and enter into our dream relationship, we REALLY are going to be happy. But once we get it, once we do it once we achieve it, it doesn't really create this way of being...this state of unconditional happiness anymore than the previous things or accomplishments before it did.
So we go about attempting to get something else...to do something more...to achieve some bigger goal, ultimately attempting, without success to fill our "happiness void."
As a result we develop these habitual patterns of doing and getting and accomplishing, based on our individually held "beliefs" regarding happiness and what is "needed to acquire it, only to find that these repeated patterns don't bring us any closer to the kind of happiness we're really seeking and in MANY cases only serve to take us further from it.
They don't fill the void as we "perceived" that it would. We never "arrive" at the place that we're attempting to "get to" which is unconditional happiness through all our "doing" and we find ourselves trapped in these repeating and self limiting cycles hoping and wishing and sometimes even believing that somehow all this doing and acquiring and achieving is going to make that experience "real" for us.
But it never does simply because we have adopted and fallen into the repetition trap, repeating the same self limiting habits, attempting to create this "new way" of being utilizing the same old habits that didn't and couldn't produce it before. We consistently and habitually repeat the same process over and over thinking that this time it's going to be different. This time it's going to bring us the level of happiness that we so desire to experience.
So we work harder, we work longer, we adjust our schedules and eliminate things that we may "love" to do yet which aren't essential in our "getting" process, so we eliminate them taking us further away rather than drawing us to the happiness that we're working so long and hard for.
We spend less time with those we love...we
That's all happiness or any other way of "being" is really...a way of being that forms into a habit or a set of habits. Happiness, as elusive as it may "seem" isn't elusive at all. For starters it doesn't have to be found or earned or bought. It simply has to be "chosen" and experienced.
The first choice necessary to make to experience a real and sustainable form of happiness is simply to recognize that happiness is a habit. A habit that can be ingrained within you just like unhappiness or any other way of "being" is.
An experience of happiness can be learned and become a habitual way of being just as the habits that so many form to be "unhappy" can be learned and are habitually exercised keeping happiness from becoming "real."
First it's important to understand...to really get the fact that happiness is not a physical and tangible thing. It's a way of "being" that can't and won't be experienced through acquiring physical and tangible possessions.
There is nothing that we lack or "need" to experience boundless happiness for ourselves right here...right now with the exception of our individual choice to do so.
It's true...We all already possess everything required to experience this happiness state of being for ourselves and it's much more simple and easy to get into and remain in this "state of being"...this unconditional happiness place...than the vast majority can even conceive.
Perhaps the very reason for that...the underlying and often overlooked reason for this "lack of happiness" in the world, is due to the sheer simplicity of making it real and true for ourselves.
That's how the really BIG and profound results in life are created. In REALLY simple ways and due to a very simple process that never fails or wavers when we simply choose to "allow" it to do it's job. We accomplish that by learning to get out of our own way. To quit sabotaging our own happiness by attempting to figure everything out...attempting to "fix" what we "perceive" to be wrong and learning to develop the ability to "allow" happiness and anything else for that matter to flow to us.
People truly don't understand that happiness, like anything else in life is nothing more than a choice...an individual choice that we all have the ability and the free will to make or not make.
There aren't any right or wrong choices really, only choices that determine our individual experience. There are choices that lead us toward the experience we desire or choices that lead us further away. Neither is right or wrong, it's only our individual judgments and perceptions regarding this "outcome" whatever it might be that determines what "label" we put on it.
If we experience something that goes against what we desire to experience, we often "call it" bad or evil or whatever, but under all the confusion and all the misunderstanding regarding it, whatever IT is, it only happened because we "chose" for it to. Granted some of these choices can and do create outcomes that we judge and perceive as being bad, but we can only stay stuck in this bad place or keep producing these same "bad" outcomes by making the "choice" not to do anything differently.
Since it's our choices that determine our lives, EVERY aspect of our lives including our level of happiness, it's essential that we begin to make "conscious and intentional choices" if we "truly" hope to experience this "happiness" that everyone desires, don't you think?
We don't have to stay stuck in these same self limiting habitual patterns although we do have that choice. All we have to do is recognize and choose to change the habits that are and will continue creating the same less than desired results that we will continue to experience unless and until we ourselves choose something different.
A choice to continue to "pursue" or acquire our happiness through the accumulation of "stuff" will continue to produce the temporary and finite spurts of happiness that are always fleeting.
It's not that "things" and accomplishments aren't great things...they are. I love things and accomplishments. I enjoy money, I enjoy toys and the fun that they can assist us in having. They just won't create happiness...unconditional and sustainable happiness that is.
Think about this for a minute. Really think about it.
Looking beyond all the accomplishments...all the accumulation of stuff...all the trying and acquiring of the material things that we strive and work so hard to create and get for ourselves, the underlying intent...the "King Daddy" objective behind it all is to reach the "Ultimate Goal" of becoming and experiencing what it means to experience happiness.
Have you ever bought a car and thought, Man now I'm really going to be happy, only to find that after writing out the check for the second or third payment you start thinking to yourself just how "unhappy" and anxious doing so makes you.
Sure it was exciting getting that car initially. We loved the way it smelled, the sound system, the ride, the style but now that it's time to pay for it...now that we have to write the check for it every month, most of the novelty and excitement wore off. Now we have to pay for it long after all the reasons that we bought it are nothing more than faint memories.
All of a sudden it's just a car. A means of transportation. As happy as it made us temporarily, now the writing the check every month for it doesn't make us feel nearly as happy or excited and in most cases quite the opposite.
Yet our having and the acquisition of more of this "stuff" isn't the "real meaning" behind or the way to create this happiness for ourselves although the vast majority would argue that fact.
That's why so few are "truly happy." Because most don't understand what "real happiness" is or how to create it for themselves.
You'd find that those who would argue that "stuff" does create happiness either aren't being "truly honest" with themselves and are the very ones who are for the most part unhappy or there's another group who might "perceive" that having money and stuff is the way to unconditional happiness simply because they have never had the opportunity to acquire this stuff or achieved these accomplishments that they "perceive" will make and keep them happy.
Those who have and discovered that material things don't create "unconditional happiness", either move on to discover and find what does or continue through their entire lives attempting to chase after and create it in the same way they have, never becoming "aware" or develop the understanding that there's a much easier, far more fulfilling and rewarding way.
Before we can expect to experience happiness...unconditional happiness, it's necessary to understand what it means...what it "really" means.
So, what is the real meaning of happiness? More importantly how can we ourselves create this state of happiness for ourselves and consistently experience the joy and fulfillment of life that this chosen way of being produces...regardless?
And probably the most important and frequently asked question of them all is...
In this day and age, is unconditional, unwavering and consistent happiness even attainable for us at all? In a more personal light, is it attainable and achievable for you individually?
Well...GREAT news. Yes it is. In fact it's more than attainable. It's already well within your grasp and easily achievable for you once you make the "conscious" and transformational choice to accept responsibility for your own happiness and take the time to understand the formula as well as the mechanics behind getting and keeping yourself in this "happiness space."
It's quite simply a matter of a 3 part process. Let's call it a "conscious choice" process.
As I mentioned that's all happiness is...a choice...a chosen way of being. But it requires "consciously choosing" if you hope to arrive at the desired destination in the shortest time frame possible with the least amount of pain and struggle along the way.
Put another way, it requires consciously choosing a certain "path." There are a number of these paths that we have the choice as well as the ability to walk down...an Infinite number, but the path I'm referring to is what I and countless others before me have found and which I like to refer to as "The short path to happiness" which is far more pleasant than the alternative which is the long path to pain.
That's another choice that you have. To pick whichever of these paths that you choose to walk down.
I personally chose the long path initially, but fortunately I discovered after a number of "less than desired outcomes" while traveling that path, after acquiring all this "success and stuff" and found it didn't make me "really happy", that it was time that I "woke up" and decided that I was heading in the opposite direction of my desired destination. I recognized the need to change paths.
Although I spent a number of years on this "long path of pain" I finally chose to become conscious and discovered that choosing to keep heading down the same path could only produce the same unpleasant scenery.
Don't misunderstand this "path" I chose for so long did produce a lot of stuff. But at the same time it required that I give up and not engage in what I valued most which was time with my family as well as a number of other things that I "love" to do but didn't have time for.
Although all paths inevitably lead to the same place at some point, from a strictly "physical perspective" the short path to happiness is what I've since found to be the "preferred path" and creates a long term and sustainable form of happiness...unconditional happiness that the other path couldn't, didn't and never would have.
Which brings us back to choices...more specifically "conscious choices."
Let's touch on that now.
The 3 Part "Conscious Choice" Process To "Real Happiness" The first choice necessary for creating this unconditional form of happiness begins by accepting responsibility for your own happiness.
This is really nothing more than developing the understanding that no one or no thing external to yourself can affect your happiness unless and until you choose to allow them to. It happens through developing the understanding that it's only your individually held "perceptions and judgments" with regard to these outside occurrences which is the only thing that can sway you and keep you from experiencing "unconditional happiness" which is an "internal process" that you choose for yourself.
When you accept responsibility for the way things have turned out in your life thus far you empower yourself beyond belief. You begin to understand in a most empowering way that there is nothing external to you that can impact or affect what you choose...which in this case is becoming "unconditionally happy."
The second part is choosing to explore and develop an understanding regarding yourself...an uncommon understanding of your "true self" and the power you've been provided to create a life by design based on whatever choices you might choose to make for yourself. This step empowers you even further and enables you to see for yourself just how powerfully creative you are.
Then, the 3rd yet equally important step is choosing to consciously and consistently apply the understanding that you gain as a result.
Once that criteria is met, not only does happiness become possible it becomes you...a very real part of you unconditionally and the outcomes that this new you experiences is reflected in your life...In EVERY aspect of your life.
It becomes a habit that reflects "tangible things" and experiences in your life just as you choose.
You reach the Ultimate Goal of ALL goals...You become happy...unconditionally happy.
That's where it is that we ALL want to get to right?
What's even greater than that is happiness is free...it comes without a monetary cost. Although there is no "monetary cost" like everything in life, there is a cost to get into this unconditionally happy space.
The cost is a willingness on your part to take the necessary "time" to DO the above steps that will enable you to discover the deeper truth behind what happiness really is and the mechanics and processes for making it a very real part of you.
This is where so many "get stuck." They "perceive" that they don't have the time to delve in and take these essential steps because they are too busy attempting to create this "happiness" in the way they've been programmed and conditioned to "believe" is the way to create the happiness they want.
It's my intention to assist you in changing this way of thinking. That's why the Abundance and Happiness portal exists. To assist you in flipping the switch from chasing and consistently seeking out this temporary and fleeting conditional happiness to understanding and equally as important experiencing this "unconditional happiness" that we've been covering.
It's both my intention as well as my passion to provide you with the nuts and bolts of how to create this happiness for yourself...ultimately enabling you to know in a very personal and experiential way what it means to consistently experience unconditional happiness for yourself regardless of externals and aside from what might be happening in the world around you at any given time.
Happiness is a choice and sadness is a choice. Once you become fully conscious of the process of how these ways of being become real and true for you as well as the control you have individually to change them whenever YOU choose, happiness becomes automatic...effortless even. It becomes what you are always...unconditionally.
You develop the ability to attract things...both tangible and otherwise rather than continually chasing and pursuing things including happiness.
Which brings us to a very important point...
The Pursuit Of Happiness Is Somewhat Of A MythHappiness isn't something that you have to pursue, chase after or "work hard for." It's not a "doing" it's a way of being. It's something that you allow or disallow.
To consistently experience happiness in your life doesn't require a pursuit, it requires a foundational understanding of what happiness "truly is", where it can be and is found and once understood "allowing" yourself to consistently tap into it.
This tapping into only requires an expanded awareness as to how to go about instilling this way of being in yourself and then choosing to do that. The really great thing is, it's much closer and FAR more simple to achieve than most understand or are aware of...MUCH closer and FAR MORE simple.
How close and simple is it? Well, as mentioned it's already within you.
That's why so many futilely pursue and chase it for so long, attempting to create it through the acquisition of stuff and through achieving various unfulfilling and externally focused desires. Those who see this as the means to create happiness spend their entire lives pursuing it without ever really "catching it."
As you'll soon clearly understand, should you choose to invest the time to follow the 3 steps we've covered, happiness is not something that has to be acquired or pursued at all. Since it's something that we each possess within ourselves already, something that we choose for ourselves, all that we need to do is develop our ability to choose consciously enabling us to call it forth and experience it any time that we choose.
It's simply a matter of developing different habits. For the sake of this chapter we'll be referring to it as the "happiness habit."
That's what we'll be discussing here and developing the ability to do. We'll uncover "The Secret" as to how we ourselves can learn to both choose and experience this happy state at will. We'll be doing so in a way that will require and hopefully create the necessary paradigm shift within yourself enabling you to first of all grasp and fully understand what happiness "really is" as well as cover some territory that will provide you with additional insight and specific direction that will hopefully allow the light bulbs to start coming on and assist you in arriving where it is that so many desire to go, although we won't be going anywhere really.
Not in the physical sense of the word anyway. We'll simply be taking a journey within ourselves. We'll be exploring, prodding and taking a more "conscious look" within ourselves where "real happiness" exists and is always found.
But rest assured it's not complicated and it's really quite simple.
It's simply a matter of changing your paradigms. your way of looking at, perceiving and seeing the world and yourself. As you'll soon understand that is the ONLY thing...I repeat the ONLY thing that determines our individual happiness or our unhappiness.
It will enable you to not only understand, but more importantly personally create and experience this highly sought after yet all too often overlooked aspect of "being" called happiness that can and will make your life what it was designed and intended to be...a joyful and fulfilling journey of greater and far more grand experiences than you may have previously "perceived" to be possible.
So are you ready to begin our little "happiness journey?"
Let's begin by looking at what happiness is...what it "really" is.
What Does Happiness Mean Really and What Is Necessary To Remain In A State Of "Being Happy" Consistently?To fully experience happiness for ourselves is going to require a deeper understanding of what happiness is...what it really is before we can hope to create and experience it for ourselves.
Happiness is a state. To fully understand what this state is and how to arrive there we have to understand what it is before we can expect to arrive.
You wouldn't head out on the highway traveling to another state without having a pretty good idea as to where you're headed and a predefined way as to which way you wanted and needed to go to get there would you?
Let's do a little planning and paradigm shifting so we can arrive at our destination in the quickest and most pleasing way possible.
Although many "perceive" that happiness can be bought and attained through acquiring material things whether monetarily or otherwise, it's this very perception that keeps so many from experiencing it for themselves. It's an illusion and one that will persist unless a new understanding is gained.
Most people have a very limited understanding of what happiness is...what it "truly is." As a result many make the unfortunate choice of trying to buy or earn happiness and if they don't have the funds available to buy what they feel they need and think is necessary to experience happiness, never even experience the short term happiness that doing so provides.
Let's begin by looking at the thing that most people "perceive" to be necessary to experience happiness in their lives....namely wealth.
The current and most prevalent understanding regarding what's perceived as being necessary to gain and experience happiness has to do with acquiring wealth. Although that is "true" to an extent, how "true" it is is dependent on your individually chosen perception of what wealth is. Wealth..."Real Wealth" like "real happiness" consists of much more than an accumulation of monetary wealth and material things.
Real wealth is about experiencing "harmony" in every aspect of your life. What is necessary to experience this harmony for one doesn't pertain to another though.
I won't deny that being happy requires the basic essentials necessary to sustain life. Food, a roof over your head, clothing and the basic necessities for survival.
But that's all that's required. Anything over and above these basic necessities IS NOT required.
If you're reading this chances are that mere survival isn't the issue. You're beyond survival mode and simply attempting to elevate your "happiness quotient."
Here's an important realization to come to that will assist you in that endeavor tremendously...
"Real Wealth like happiness isn't something you achieve but rather is acquired by something that you are. Real Wealth is experienced in happiness. Happiness is not an emotion but rather a state of being. A state of being requires nothing more than a choice...an individual choice, not by getting something that you want or feel you need but rather by simply choosing it for yourself.
Real Wealth and Happiness isn't "achieved" by having what you want. Real Wealth and Happiness are "experienced" by getting into the "mindset" of wanting what you have…savoring, feeling and expressing heartfelt gratitude for the countless blessings that you are experiencing right now which will without fail, draw to you more wealth and happiness to be grateful for and happy about.
Wealth of a material nature doesn't create happiness. Happiness makes the experience and creation of wealth monetarily and otherwise possible and "allows" it to multiply…effortlessly.
Most people are simply attempting to create happiness backwards and as a result keep coming up short and with the same limited and disappointing results. They continue on through life experiencing temporary short term spurts of "conditional happiness" fully believing that it's not a destination that can be arrived at as well as a place that you can get to and stay for as long as you choose.
They "perceive" it to be a continuously moving target that has to be chased and sought out and the outcome is that, that's precisely what they continue to "do."
Happiness isn't a doing or a thing that needs to be chased. It's a way of being.
Here's how the vast majority think and attempt to create and experience happiness which is why so few do...
Most choose a mindset that they'll be grateful once they become wealthy and that then they'll BE happy.
Uh sorry...but if this is how YOU think and the path you choose to take, you'll discover that this is the LONG path to pain as well as continual disappointment along the way.
There's a MUCH shorter path to take.
It's this...
Be happy...Be wealthy...Be grateful and you will know what it "truly" means to experience "Real Happiness and Real Wealth" bothinside AND outside.
That's what happiness "truly" is. It's a way of being...an "internal state of being" that once developed allows all the "tangible" external things to flow to you. It opens the flow to what you want...things of a "physical nature" yet the process begins "inside."
Happiness is the goal of all goals that most aspire toward throughout their entire lives yet when you talk with the vast majority of the earths population there are very few who can honestly tell you that they are happy..."truly happy" that is.
Sure some say that they're happy with their financial situation or with their mate or their health but very few who can honestly claim that they're "truly" happy.
True happiness goes well beyond being satisfied with a specific area of your life. It's about being satisfied with EVERY area of your life. Not a temporary and fleeting form of happiness that temporarily experienced by getting all the material things you've ever hoped and wished for but rather being satisfied with where you are and what you already have.
That doesn't mean giving up on fulfilling your currently held dreams and desires but rather acknowledging the fact that they're on their way and making the choice to be happy and content with what you have and where you are now. It's attainment happens when you can express a sincere sense of gratitude for whatever it might be that you are currently experiencing in the physical, financial, relational, emotional and spiritual aspects that collectively make up what life is about.
Sure, there are temporary states of happiness experienced by the vast majority, short term spurts that are often "confused" with "real happiness" but it's a very shallow and temporary form of happiness that is all too often rattled and shaken at the first sign of trouble. It disappears when we don't get what we want or when the "newness" of some material thing that we got at some point in the past which we thought would make us happy wears off.
That's not "real happiness." It's temporary just as the material things that we think will make us happy are temporary.
That's why the vast majority don't experience "real and sustainable happiness" and keep chasing after more stuff all the while thinking that once they get enough, they'll be happy.
But it never happens.
As sad and true as that is, at the same time it's quite easy to see why. There's an extremely simple yet all too often overlooked aspect of happiness that's necessary to become aware of that far more often than necessary builds, strengthens and solidifies the seemingly insurmountable blocks and barriers that make the experience of happiness "seem" hard or in some cases impossible which keep us from being...or more specifically experiencing what it means to be and stay "truly happy."
It's nothing more than misconceptions...misconceptions that create blocks and barriers keeping us from finding and venturing down the "happiness path."
We'll be looking at the most effective ways to permanently remove these existing blocks and barriers as well as explore what is necessary to keep any future obstacles from blocking our happiness path enabling you to begin to not only enjoy but fully experience the exhilarating scenery that lays on the other side of our less than happy space that most occupy once we break through the blinding fog that keeps happiness from becoming real for so many.
The Often Overlooked Misconceptions Around Creating and Experiencing Happiness For OurselvesTo experience happiness for ourselves and to fully understand how to get ourselves into this "happy place"...to begin venturing down the happiness path, it's necessary to lay the groundwork that will serve as the foundation for you to build upon. It's a foundation that will stand the test of time, keep us in our "happy place" regardless of what might be happening in the world around us and both enable and empower us to weather whatever storms that life may send our way without veering of our newly "chosen" path.
Yes, storms are a part of the equation. They're a part of life. But when they come as they surely will, we don't have to allow them to steal our happiness away. We can for sure. That's a choice that we do have and one which many make. Yet at the same time that's why more aren't walking down the "happy path."
The Storms...The Sorrows...The Joys and Pleasures Are All A Part Of The Happiness Plan...AND It's ALL Good
Experiencing happiness...real happiness isn't about journeying through life only experiencing the warm and sunny skies. It's also about experiencing, weathering and making it through the inevitable storms that life brings our way. It's more than "grinning an bearing" the storms that gather but rather about learning to consciously, effectively, consistently and most importantly productively deal with the many storms of various intensities that will no doubt come our way.
In fact, believe it or not we can and must learn to become grateful for or at the very least become accepting of the storms as they come.
Yes, I know and fully understand that depending on your individual situation currently that such a feat might sound impossible right now, but as you'll soon discover and "hopefully" understand, not only is it possible, it's incredibly transformational. Not only at the internal level, meaning how you "perceive" things but in the physical outcomes you'll begin experiencing in every aspect of your life by making the "conscious choice" to do so. EVERY aspect of your life!!
These proverbial storms that we're referring to are created by something known as polarity. Polarity is a necessary although not often embraced or accepted fact that we all must learn to both understand and accept before we can truly expect to get to the place of fully experiencing the happiness that we all seek.
That's one of the major stumbling blocks that keeps so many from being happy always. A lack of understanding regarding polarity or in some cases an unawareness altogether of it's existence.
So let's take a closer look at polarity...
Polarity is a fact of life...an immutable and unwavering fact that's every bit as real and constant as gravity. It's one of a number of Universal Laws that keeps the world functioning and in harmony.
A life absent polarity would keep you from fully experiencing life. It would rob you of the ability to experience all that life has to offer.
Granted polarity can be and often is perceived to be a "bad thing" when the opposite of what we want shows up, yet it's this perception that is only made possible due to a lack of deeper understanding regarding it's necessity and often times the very thing that keeps so many from experiencing unconditional happiness in their lives.
To assist in fully grasping and understanding the necessity of polarity as well as create the necessary paradigm shift in your own mind that this understanding will provide, let's look at a very practical and easily understandable way that polarity keeps the world thriving and creating the infinite flow of abundance that is the nature of the Universe and life itself.
We'll do so by using the following metaphor and taking a conscious look at nature. Something that we can easily see and experience every day.
Let's assume for a moment that all that existed on earth were sunny skies. Each and every day as we stepped outside the sun was shining, the sky an incredible blue with an occasional white and puffy cloud floating along carelessly as the wind carried them outside of our vision. For just a moment let's imagine that that's how each and every day was. There were no such thing as occasional rain showers, drenching rains or even torrential storms. They just simply didn't exist.
Although that's a novel concept, the fact of the matter is if the rain and occasional storms didn't exist, neither would you or anything else for that matter. Consider what would happen to the vegetation that depends on these rains and storms for their survival. Consider what would happen to the lakes and streams as well as the animals that these rains and storms provide a vital aspect of survival to. What would provide them the necessary water that ensures their growth and survival?
Rain and storms are a necessary and vital part of survival. Without them the lilies of the field would be nothing more than dried up husks. The oak tree would be nothing more than a lifeless chunk of dry rotted wood only to deteriorate after a short while and it's roots eventually being eaten away by whatever surviving bugs might temporarily exist below the surface.
What would become of you and me?
Point being, regardless of how you might currently "perceive" polarity, and the occasional storms encountered due to it's presence...if it weren't a fact of life, if it weren't for it's existence, life as we know it couldn't and wouldn't exist.
It's necessary...it's vital...and it enables our planet and the entire Universe to both exist and thrive.
The reality is that polarity does and will continue to exist. The storms will come. The key to understanding and working through the occasional storms that life sends our way, it's important that we adopt a mindset that is conducive to..."It's all good." Although you might not currently "perceive" it that way, although you might be experiencing things currently that you "perceive" certain aspects of your life to be anything but good, in the bigger scheme of things it is. It ALWAYS is regardless of WHAT it is.
In fact, amazingly it's when you choose to seek and explore more deeply into why things are the way they are as well as how and why things in life happen as they do...why this polarity exists at all...that you begin to discover and "truly understand" it's all based on a perfect, immutable and unwavering plan that enables happiness or anything else for that matter to exist...to become real and enables you to fully appreciate it when it's achieved or acquired.
It's due to this perfect and precise process... what I like to refer to as The Perfect Plan that enables life to "BE" at all.
There's no getting around polarity. Polarity is an essential part of that plan and a necessary part of the process.
Whatever it is...regardless of our individually held and shortsighted perceptions surrounding it, it's ALL perfect and exists for a very specific and meaningful purpose. A far greater purpose than our limited perspectives can fathom.
To see this "good and perfection" it's only necessary to think from a different place, to look at things from a bit different perspective at times to understand and see that it's only our individually held shortsighted perspectives that keep us focused on the "wrong" or the bad in certain situations which only serves to keep us separated and moving away from, rather than consistently moving toward the experience of happiness that we all seek.
The storms that life delivers are merely "helpers in disguise" and challenge us to stand fast...to dig our roots more deeply into the foundation of who and what we are, providing an opportunity to become stronger, more resilient and assist us to grow into an ever greater capacity to discover and develop both our strengths as well as develop our weaknesses.
They encourage us to dig down deeply within ourselves often times enabling us to become aware of and uncover yet another layer...an aspect of ourselves that we had overlooked previously and didn't even realize that existed there all along. An aspect of ourselves that lay hidden within us outside of our conscious awareness that is the very thing that kept us from getting what we want. Another self limiting and self sabotaging layer uncovered for the sake of assisting us to awaken to, recognize, accept responsibility for and deal with whatever it might be.
Then once this choice is made we become both enabled and empowered, allowing us to move on to an even greater experience.
Polarity can, if we allow it to, provide the necessary boost to reach the next plateau where our most treasured and sought after hopes, dreams and goals existed all along.
Hopes, dreams and goals that we were previously oblivious to or "perceived" ourselves as being unable to fulfill. unattainable for us and believed would make us happy.
It's when we make the choice to see the good and perfection of the process...that polarity is for our ultimate good, growth and survival that we develop the ability and become both enabled and empowered to weather any storm that life might send our way at some point in the future without affecting our happiness. It's through this acceptance and process of growth that happiness begins to reveal itself that we begin to experience it unconditionally. It remains with us even when the sun may temporarily hide itself behind some dark cloud and be temporarily hidden from our limited vision.
It's essential that we understand that everything in life, regardless of how unfair or painful we might "perceive" it individually ALL serves a greater purpose, is happening for a very specific reason and CAN always lead to greater outcomes should WE ourselves "choose" to allow it to.
Whenever you see what you perceive to be chaos, disharmony and discord in the universe...in your life you are simply seeing something that you may not yet understand, but it is perfect precise always in harmony and working the way it is for your greatest good. Disharmony and chaos is never "THE truth" but rather only an individual or collective "perception of truth"...an imagined truth that you are allowing yourself to process in the creative function of your mind. Rest assured...trust...believe that everything is organized perfectly unfolding predictably and is doing so as the result of "The Perfect Plan" that is based on "Unconditional Love."
Unhappiness in our world isn't a problem...unhappiness on an individual level isn't a problem. It's a symptom. It's a sign that there is something going on at a deeper level, perhaps under the radar of our conscious awareness that is creating this undesirable state. Unhappiness is "good" because it clearly shows us that we are not living and fully expressing who and what we "truly are and as a result not living up to our true potential and capability. It shows us that we need to switch gears...perhaps take another path altogether than the one we've been walking down.
Discontent can and often does stir us to wake up from our "unconscious slumbers enabling and encouraging us to seek out the answers that allow happiness to become a very real part of our lives...an immutable and unwavering constant.
Which brings us full circle and back to the way most attempt to create this happiness which is through acquiring more stuff.
Happiness isn't something that needs to be sought out. It's not something that we can buy, earn or acquire in the way that the vast majority "perceive".
Happiness quite simply is a way of being.
Although many attempt to create happiness through acquiring their dream home, the luxury car, the perfect relationship, the dream career, or through the acquisition of financial wealth, it's always discovered once these goals have been reached that happiness..."true happiness" isn't achieved through anything or anyone external to yourself.
Do these things enable us to more fully enjoy and experience life? Absolutely they do but they never have, dont', and never will provide us with unconditional happiness.
Unconditional Happiness becomes "real" through understanding and making a conscious and intentional choice as well as the commitment to develop the ability to take an "inside out approach" to life.
What is this "inside out approach" exactly? It's simply a matter of choosing to enhance your "conscious awareness" of what's going on within you that is, without fail determining what has, is, does and will continue determining what is happening around you.
It's made possible and becomes blatantly obvious when we develop the understanding that the Law of Attraction draws to us what we are choosing...precisely what we are choosing without fail, although many times "unconsciously" and once grasped choosing to accept responsibility for whatever is being or has been attracted to us. It' to see and fully understand that whatever that might be is being "attracted to us" due to our own choices...through our chosen way of "being."
Happiness is often thought of as an emotion yet that is a misconception. It goes much deeper than that. Happiness precedes emotion. It isn't an emotion at all.
Emotions are physical occurrences...electrochemical processes that happen through igniting the neurological mechanical aspects of us that oversee and govern the physical body. Emotions are created and experienced through the conscious and unconscious processing of thought or consciousness.
Happiness isn't an emotion at all any more than love is. Happiness is being OK regardless of what the world might deliver in the way of external events, conditions and circumstances which automatically changes the quality of the emotion that is created. Happiness...unconditional happiness is a feeling...a deep seeded feeling achieved by conscious, intentional and consistent focus which determines the electrochemical physical process within the brain at the neurological level that produces and determines which emotion or emotions are experienced by and within the "physical body."
Happiness is achieved through consciously choosing a way of being at the "consciousness level. This way of being precedes the processing of this consciousness at the neurological level. This way of "being" is a mind thing not a brain thing.
Happiness is created in the mind and emotion is created in the brain.
When the brain processes this quality of consciousness that the mind allows, the result is the creation of physical emotions. So the key is, consciously choosing the quality of consciousness that you send to the brain to process...something that is felt deep within yourself that can't be swayed...regardless.
That doesn't mean that we don't or won't have an occasional bad day. It doesn't mean that the world bows at our feet, jumps at our every command and pours upon us every hope, dream and desire we have every moment of the day, although choosing this state of being for ourselves...this internal state of happiness "allows" those hopes, dreams and desires to flow to us much easier and in ways that can seem both effortless and even in a number of cases what might be considered to be miraculous.
It doesn't mean that occasional disharmonious thoughts won't attempt to veer us off the happiness path. But ultimately it's what we choose to do with these thoughts that determine how they affect or don't affect us.
It's what we choose to do with them that determines if we'll be happy or unhappy.
Happiness is much more than a novel idea. It isn't an unattainable pie in the sky state of being to achieve.
Happiness, like everything else in life is the result of a choice...a conscious choice. It is and can be learned as well as consistently experienced when we ourselves make the choice to do so.
We'll be covering the most important choice you can make which creates this happiness that so many are "trying" so hard to achieve. In fact this most important choice is made clear in a number of ways.
The serenity prayer comes to mind as I think about the way to create happiness for ourselves and holds the often overlooked master key to experiencing personal and unconditional happiness in your own life.
In case you're not familiar with that timeless wisdom...profoundly transformational wisdom I might add, it goes like this...
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."
Within that profoundly empowering and transformational wisdom lies the often labeled "Ultimate Secret" to finding and experiencing "real and sustainable happiness" for yourself.
In case you overlooked it, it's quite simply this...
Acceptance
That's the missing link that so may overlook and as a result fail to ever apply in their lives. It's the unshakable foundation that makes happiness...the experience of real happiness not only possible but effortless.
It's getting into the place of accepting whatever is as it is and eliminating the habitual patterns of judging and condemning things which only serves to bring more of the same.
Acceptance like happiness is a state of mind.
It's the seed that makes happiness "real"...acceptance. Acceptance like happiness isn't a physical thing, it's a choice. A quality of consciousness.
Acceptance is nothing more or less than learning to look for and find the good in things...in ALL things. It's about developing the ability to express gratitude and appreciation for what you have rather than keeping your predominant focus on what you don't have.
It's easily exercised when you really grasp the fact that polarity is a fact of life and that whatever life might bring is brought to us for a greater good...for our good.
I cover acceptance in depth in the Wanting What You Have article. I recommend that you read it.
When you get to this place, when you can begin to find and express "heartfelt gratitude" for what you have and begin to see the good, the proverbial "silver lining" that exists within EVERY cloud, happiness shows up. It doesn't require chasing it, it finds you. And once it does the tangible physical things follow.
Acceptance is a fundamental and unshakable way of being that enables and empowers happiness to grow and flourish. An unconditional form of acceptance regardless of what day to day events, conditions or circumstances, show up in the world and aside from what other people or institutions might choose to do that create what we often perceive to be undesirable conditions in your immediate environment or on a larger scale, the world.
Happiness...true and lasting happiness is more or less a solo flight. It begins with an individual choice followed by the willingness to see that choice through regardless of what's going on around you.
Once we really get the fact that happiness is nothing more than a choice...a chosen way of being, there's another thing to consider. It's what's going on at the neurological level. This "goings on" is nothing more than data that's hardwired into each of us.
Data acquired since we were born.
This is why it can seem so hard to create positive change in our lives once a conscious and intentional choice is made.
Happiness Requires A Neurological Rewiring Of The Physical BrainThere's another aspect to creating happiness for ourselves that's hard wired into you, me and everyone else. Now that we've looked at what happiness is and why most aren't happy, let's look at this aspect, become aware of something that is happening at the physical level so we can better navigate through the storms and perceptions that keep happiness form so many and provide the means to change it in a tangible way.
As we've covered happiness is a state of being, and everyone aspires to be happy, yet as much as you might understand what is required to become happy and as much as you may also understand that happiness doesn't come through the acquisition of stuff, until this additional understanding is established venturing down the happiness path can seem really difficult...perhaps even impossible. But it's not. It's nothing more than a perception that makes it "seem" that way.
As hard as everyone might "try" to see the good in all things...as much as you might understand the "real meaning" of happiness and how it's consistently created and experienced, it's still necessary to harmonize the physical aspects of you to make this new happiness place your new home...your "permanent residence"...and keep it squeeky clean so that you can fully enjoy it.
It's The One Common Goal Of All People To Experience Happiness. Underneath all the layers of wanting, desiring, hoping, dreaming, wishing and envisioning greater experiences for yourself, the ultimate goal is attaining the way of being known and referred to as Happiness.
Claim it my friend...it's already yours. It's simply a matter of accepting that fact and "allowing" it to become a part of you.