from Pixabay
Humans seem to be constantly searching for happiness. Even the Bill of Rights focuses on the pursuit of happiness. By the same token, we go around 'pursuing happiness' -- looking for it, searching in all kinds of experiences, thinking that one day we will find the right place, person, or feeling. We seek happiness, or at least the key to it. While we pursue this goal, we are looking ahead to the future...and maybe forgetting to look at today.
Recently, while taking my morning walk, I began enjoying the feel of the sun on my face, the fresh air, and the dampness of the grass. Suddenly, I realized that I was happy to be alive! I dove into that feeling and immediately began enjoying the beauty of this planet, its inhabitants -- human, animal, vegetable, mineral or spirit. It felt so good to be amidst the beauty and the experience of life that I was overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for the experience I was having.
Dreaming of A Better "Today" Than Today
As I reflected upon this feeling, I remembered a time,as a child, when I was unhappy at being 'stuck' in my life's drama. As a young adult, I would often wish 'they' would just come and get me. You know, the old 'beam me up Scotty' routine. I was constantly resisting my experience thinking that somewhere else, or someone else, or something else would be better. Ignoring the beauty in the now, I kept dreaming of a different reality -- anything but my 'tedious' existence.
It was not until I began to understand that: 1) I had chosen to be where I was; 2) I was not "stuck" in any situation unless I chose to be; and 3) I was the one that was in charge of my life, that I began to transform my life.
Immediately, I made drastic changes. I moved, traveled, changed boyfriend, etc., all in an effort to change my life. Then it finally dawned on me. Although I made these wonderful outer shifts...I could not run away from what I was inside. After many moves, I learned that wherever I went, there I would be...with all my inner fears, insecurities, beliefs, etc.
Have You Resigned Yourself to a Life of the "Blahs"?
Are you happy to be alive? Do you wake up in the morning excited to have another day to express yourself and create your life? Do you feel the surge of Life through your veins? If you answered no to these questions, you can change that.
Ask yourself what you dislike about your life, and why. Look at that situation and ascertain why you are in it. Are you playing the martyr, or do you feel you don't deserve any better? Whatever your reason, you can now STOP! Say: "I choose to be happy. I choose to live my life to the fullest -- feeling love, joy and dynamic energy daily."
This is possible. When we live according to our highest vision, when we follow our heart and listen to our intuitions, this is what we will have as a daily life experience. We do not have to resign ourselves to a life of the `blahs'.
Who's Going To Rescue You?
There has been a lot of talk about ascension or the "rapture". From what I've read and heard, there seems to be two varieties of these "get me outta here" plans. One is the old come and take me away, I've had enough routine, and the other speaks of raising our vibration.
The first version, reminds me of an escape fantasy or a fairy tale. In other words, "I hate my life and I want someone to come and rescue me." We have moved from the prince in shining armor, to the extraterrestrial or Divine Being in shining light. I feel we need to look closely at our motives when we start wanting to ascend. Are we solely wanting to run away, to escape, or are we seeking to improve our life, and ourselves?
It's time to come to terms with ourselves and our life as we have created it on this planet. We need to begin raising our vibration. Ascend to our own beingness from a purely physical dimension to one where we are consciously playing with energy and radiating Love and Harmony. Our goal should not be about running away, but about raising our energy to one of pure Love, Faith and Light.
So What Do We Do Now?
The first step begins in loving yourself. Next, focus on loving everyone and everything around you, here and now.
We need to be more concerned about our day to day reality. For example at the end of the day ask:
- Did I deal with everyone and everything from Love? (this includes Planet Earth as well as humans and animals)
- Did I spend my time worried about tomorrow, and what's going to happen? (we do not deny the future, but rather deal with what we can do here and now)
We need to focus on the present. If you live today to the best of your capacity, always striving to live from a 'higher' perspective, then tomorrow and all the other tomorrows will follow from whatever energy we have chosen to go with today.
We are alive! We can make that experience a boring, sad, tedious one -- or we can choose to step forth with grace, with enthusiasm, expecting the Universe to shower us with blessings.
Happiness is a choice and now is always the time to choose it... every now that presents itself in every moment of our lives.
* Focus on today, on being the best person you can be (and that you really are).
* Let go of your fears and insecurities.
* Live life fully.
* Love completely.
Love the Radiant Being that you are, and that others are, and happiness will be yours.
Related book:
Journey to the Heart: Daily Meditations on the Path to Freeing Your Soul
by Melody Beattie.
Melody Beattie, author of Codependent No More, Beyond Codependency, and Lessons of Love, writes with the same warmth, honesty, and compassion in this collection, helping readers chart a new path toward spiritual growth and renewal. Journey to the Heart will comfort and inspire us all as we begin to discover our true purpose in the world and learn to connect even more deeply with ourselves, the creative force, and the magic and mystery in the world around and within us.
Creative Commons 3.0: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author: Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article: This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.comAbout The Author
Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.
