DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY

A very special little lady who is so dear to my heart asked me the question: "How do I find happiness?" Well, ever since yesterday when she asked me that I cannot stop thinking about how one might find happiness. I feel fairly secure in my own happiness, which is not to say that I don't have many challenges come into my life as we all do, but at this stage in my life I have finally learned to try my very best to stay in the one eternal moment which is really all any of us have. As long as I can do that I then am able to choose what thoughts I allow to come into actuality. Not that it is always easy to command one's thoughts, no I'd say its really rather hard to focus on "good" or "happy" when it seems like everything in your world is crumbling down. Believe me I've been there a time or two in my life also. It does take effort and a lot of soul searching to allow the illusions of "unhappiness" to just fade away back into the mist of thoughts that once seemed important but no longer serve our purpose. For me this way of living comes from a lifetime of trial and error, times of despair and even feelings of hopelessness but also times of bliss and total contentment. By no means do I claim to have any answers for you that will make you find happiness. I suppose that is what makes the question so hard for anyone else to explain. For example, one person may say they are happy because they have many loved ones but when you see them they seem to always be short on money or material things yet they still radiate a sense of great happiness that seems to gently touch every soul they meet. Then there are those folks who seem to have everything they want and need in abundance. You know the ones I mean. They take exotic trips, buy only the best of things and live in mansions most of us can only dream of. Yet if you asked them if they are happy they may surprise you and tell you they are miserable with life. I have personally seen both of these examples play out in life. Now why is one of them happy and the other one unhappy? Only they can tell you why. And when they do tell you it still may not make any sense at all to you. Therein is the "problem" I have in trying to tell anyone why I am so happy. I will share this much with all of you though and maybe you will get a feel as to how I manage to stay happy, at least most of the time. First of all I have learned foremost what it is that makes me think the way I do. I have come to except that the only important thing to me is other people. I have so richly blessed with having surrounded myself with "good" people who accept me as I am and therefore help me to grow spiritually more ever day. My regular readers have heard me talk about the love of my life Susan Marie before so now I'll just repeat that she is my everything, my soul mate, my best friend, my wife, my lover, my Forever Valentine! That is one very big reason I am happy. I was happy when I first met her many years ago and I'm even happier today. And with her came so many beautiful people into my life. Kids, grandkids, parents, and friends. So I consider myself again as being richly blessed. Sharing a part of my life with other people have kept me sane through all the '"hard" times. I have never had what one would call lots of money or material things but I've always managed to have enough and even a little left over to share with others. So that in a nutshell is why I have been able to get happy and stay happy. Not that that's gonna help you very much in your own search. After thinking about happiness these past 2 days I can only say that in my belief the only way for anyone to find happiness is to find out what it is that makes them feel like they are doing something good for not only themselves but for the world in general. Then I think they should learn to listen to what their heart tells them. This has always worked for me. Go where the heart says go and try to control your ego self so that it doesn't override the heart! The human ego is another subject for a later date I'm sure. But for me especially it was not until I halfway learned to control my ego that I finally begin to be able to really listen to my heart. Don't get me wrong, I still have issues with my ego from time to time. Yes, it still would love to control my thoughts and be in "charge" of my life but I refuse to give in. To sum it all up about the only advice I can give anyone as to happiness is this. Do the very best you can in everything you do and don't be afraid to fail. Risk getting hurt to allow unconditional love to enter your life at some point. Always take the high road if you can in dealing with others. And one of the most important things is to take time for yourself! Learn to get alone with yourself, your inner thoughts, your hopes, your dreams, and your passions. For until you find a way to "heal" yourself from unhappiness, you will not be able to give happiness away to others. No one can do it for you. For me it is still a work in progress and my hope is that today all of you are happy and that you will continue to spread that happiness to everyone you meet. Be good to yourself and even better to those you love. I will now leave all of you with this thought which comes from the book Walking Through Illusion by my friend Betsy Otter Thompson who was thoughtful enough to share her work with me. Betsy states: "Every scenario in which you've forgotten to love is waiting for a miracle!" How true how true. My love I extend to each of you with a warm hug and thoughts for a better world for us all. "HUGS"