Happiness is...

What would your life be like if you said and believed, "Today is a good day" independent of what actually happened to you? The answer to that question is what it means to be truly happy. However, if you want to discover the answer then you have to ask another question that goes deeper:

"What does my heart truly want?"

It is in the wanting that you discover how to feel truly lasting happiness. Society, and your life's conditioning, have falsely led you to believe that the wantings of your heart must be fulfilled in order for you to be filled with happiness. But nothing could be further from the truth.

How often have you heard about millionaires who are unhappy, even though they have "everything" anybody could ever want? The reason: Money can never buy what it represents. You hope that by having the money you will be happier, when in reality, most people would gladly give up all the money in the world just to be happy.

In that example about millionaires, you can see that it has nothing to do with acquiring the money, and everything to do with the feeling of being happy. And this is actually true of anything that you want.

When your heart has 'holes' in it, when it has those places that are unfulfilled, then no matter what you seek in the outside world, you will never acquire enough to feel whole again. Your acquisitions, at best, will temporarily distract you from the hole you feel inside from feeling un-whole, unworthy, or unloved. In other words, the tangible can never purchase the intangible.

Instead, you must follow your heart's desires. Your heart knows what truly fills you with happiness, yet so often, many of us ignore those deeper desires because of past conditionings. In your youth, parents, peers, and authority figures, probably told you - in some way or another - that your dreams were childish, that you didn't deserve them, or they justified why you couldn't have them.

And somewhere along the way, you probably started to believe them. :(

Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Your dreams do matter, and in fact, rekindling those dreams is the key to experiencing happiness more fully in your life.

Remember that you don't have to justify to anybody why you want something. Your wants are valid of their own right, regardless of what they are.

Simply experiencing the fullness of your wanting is enough to bring you happiness, and the way to do that is to accept yourself. In fact, nothing is more liberating than giving yourself permission to be exactly as you are right now. Nothing. Justifying your heart's desires is like trying to stop water from going over a waterfall. There is nothing heavier in your heart than telling yourself to "be happy."

That's because when you tell yourself how you "should" be, you restrain yourself from being as you truly are. Your mind then minimizes your experience, puts expectations on what happiness is and should be, and tells you lies like, "If only I were liked more... if only I had more money... if only my husband/wife/best friend would... then I could be happy again."

This is also why happiness has nothing to do with what you're getting, and everything to do with what you're getting rid of.

This idea is completely opposite of everything our society, peers, teachers, and authority figures have been saying for most of our lives.

Give it some thought. Some serious inquiry.

by Chris Cade