People make themselves miserable. It has been shown that we, humans, are hard-wired for well-being. When we are ill, for example, the body-mechanism tries to heal us. When we grieve, time helps us mend as life passes and new experiences and people begin to populate our thinking.
You have to work at feeling miserable because you are so constructed as to develop your own well-being. But because people have so long wallowed in their self-imposed misery, they have thought that happiness is a mystery.
Some are happy but you are not feeling that way at the moment so you think there must be some mysterious secret to being happy and feeling happy. There is no mystery; happiness is your hard-wired inheritance.
As with everything that is yours, for you to realize it so, you must claim it. Suppose your favorite uncle passed away and left you a pile of assets in his will. It would be great to be so well off as he has made you. But to enjoy that wealth you have to go to a distant city to claim the inheritance. You just have to show up, show a driver’s license and sign your name and you are wealthy–suddenly.
Nothing to it. Just a minor effort on your part. Do you think you might undertake to do it? Go to the distant city and sign your name? I bet you would.
Well, you need be miserable no more. With a little effort and a little patience you can be happy all the time. You need to claim your inheritance of beatitude.
I am not talking about some state of euphoria akin to drunkenness where you are bouncing around in a field of unreality. Tripping through the tulips of a make-believe world. You are still facing essential reality in this new-found happiness. You know reality, not some Pollyannaish realm.
Rather you have a feeling of and a life-delivery of well-being. Despite all, you feel as if all is well. You feel that you are not miserable. You are content with the way things are in this moment. Yes, you may need to improve in some areas, your world may need meliorating in some aspects. But in this moment in time, only this moment, you are content with the way you are.
You obtain this well-being by being in touch with The Source of All There Is. One of the best ways to be in touch with The Source is through meditation of some sort. (There are many sorts.) Through meditation you will find that you are indissolubly bound to The Source.
In that bond you discovered that you are completely accepted just as you are. There is no greater feeling of well-being than to be completely and unconditionally accepted just as you are. This is true, nailed, accomplished well-being.
One may say it thus: You are accepted, just as you are in this moment, by the Universe. So go “claim” your birthright. Start “spending” that well-being right now. There is nothing mysterious about happiness. You simply make it your own. Get to it.
For a video of this blog please see: http://youtu.be/U2OvR3RLvE8
This has been Dr. Robert Henry Schwenk, AKA drbob4u. You may reach me through comments or at drbob4u@gmail.com
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- The Mysteries of the Universe… (barbarahampweicksel.com)
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- Life Lessons from Buddha (chaitanyaiimc.wordpress.com)
- A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is. (philosiblog.com)
Have you seen the video “This is Water”? It talks about something very similar. It talks about consciously deciding what to think about, so you don’t end up being miserable as you go through life because your thoughts are negative.
http://pauseforclarity.com/2013/06/29/this-is-water/
I agree that happiness is partly a decision a person must make. It is also largely about every other decision you make. It’s choosing to be social, be adventurous, and do good. I do think it is possible that, if a person is doing nothing good with their life, that forcing a smile would be nothing but artificial happiness.
My three favorite quotes on happiness:
http://pauseforclarity.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1398&action=edit
Have a good day!
Thanks for your comment. Yes, I watched “This Is Water” and enjoyed it very much. I passed it along to several social media sites.