Happiness is inside out

Happiness!  Everyone wants it, searches for it, dreams of it and longs for it.  Are you happy?  Really happy?  If so, why? If not, what will it take for you to once and for all find and keep this illusive, yet seemingly attainable, life?

I have been miserable. I have been happy. And, I have spent time in that limbo state of wanting to be but not knowing how to be.

Happiness is not a thing, address, possession, bank balance, life position (retirement, married, single, parent, etc.). It is not something you can grasp, earn, keep, buy, learn, give away or know. Happiness is not anything that you go after. It will come after you relentlessly if you have that inner mental state or consciousness that says: I am happy no matter what is in my life.

This does not mean to imply that you will be happy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That would not be life as it was designed to be. It would also be exhausting. However, we were meant to be happy as a life destiny. Pain, grief, sadness, solitude and yes, even loneliness, are all valuable contributors to a humble, joyous, compassionate, loving, balanced and productive life.  

You cannot totally experience the thrill of victory without ever tasting defeat. You cannot completely bask in the sunshine of success if you have never been brought to your knees. And, you cannot know fully the joy of a happy disposition, spirit and demeanor without ever knowing unhappiness.

Life is a wonderful adventure; filled with every imaginable emotion, experience, test, adversity, achievement, mistake, and success.  Life is not, nor will ever be, perfect. Life is not a dress rehearsal for some later event. Life is now; what is happening now, what you are experiencing now, what you are learning now, what you are doing now, what you are dreaming now, and what you are afraid of now.

So, let’s begin the journey of a life filled with more peace, joy, understanding, balance and yes, happiness and success . . .