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Finding Happiness, YOUR VIBRATIONS Vol. 3, No. 4
Are you happy? Satisfied with your life as it is NOW? Is there something you think you are missing to really be happy? The world will always present us with difficulties and challenges. We will always be striving for things we don't have in the moment. Our happiness lies in how we confront the challenges and how we live each moment. I believe every aspect of our lives is an opportunity to help us bring out our Highest Self, feeling more expansive and loving and caring (and more loved, more cared for, too), magically aligned with our Spirit. But how can we recognize that opportunity and take it with open hands? I remember that, when I was a teen, I realized that I had idealized the feelings of unhappiness as a form of rebellion and, in the process, I had become addicted to them. The time came when I was so tired of being in the dumps, that I used all of my tools to change. I wrote affirmative quotes on my mirrors and walls, played upbeat music first thing in the morning to set the tone for the day, reached out for support from the positive people in my life, kept a collection of physical reminders of their esteem for me, exercised regularly, and reduced my daily intake of sugar. But the most important thing I did, was to make a commitment to myself that allowed me to choose my response to what life was presenting me with. It's a choice I have had to keep making since then, throughout my life. It's a choice I constantly have to remind myself that I do have, and that I can choose positivity. Hopefully the information below will also support your ability to choose positivity! MINDFULNESS MEDITATIONStudies have shown that people who win the lottery are at the same level of happiness (and, incidentally, wealth) more or less one year after the event as they were before it. This is an indication that we are internally programmed to be as happy or as unhappy as we are right now. That doesn't mean we are destined to live in dissatisfaction, though. Some studies conducted by researchers in Harvard have shown that mindfulness meditation shifts the programming towards more happiness, and that is because it can bring inner calm and a shift towards higher consciousness, but also because it teaches us the most important thing we can do to achieve greater happiness: learn to identify the triggers of unhappiness and short-circuit the patterns they set off. To practice Mindful Meditation, find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted for five or ten minutes. You may set a kitchen timer or alarm clock, if you are concerned that you will lose track of time. Sit comfortably, with your back relatively straight. Close your eyes or direct your gaze close to your nose and become conscious of your breathing. Whenever any thoughts, feelings, emotions or external occurrences arise (and they always will!), note them without judgment and move your consciousness back to your breathing. You may find that a train of thought has somehow absorbed you for a long time before you realize what you are focusing on. This happens, don't allow yourself to get caught up in judgments, just move your focus back to your breathing. Keep coming back to your breath for as long as you want. Continue this practice regularly, and notice how much easier it becomes to be mindful in your daily life. BREAKING THE CYCLE OF UNHAPPINESSMindful meditation helps us learn to observe what happens within us and be aware, without judging. These skills can help us be attentive to what triggers set off the cycle of unhappiness for us. For me, for example, when I feel disappointment, if something I was excited about doesn’t happen the way I was expecting it to, I can feel my mood plummet like a rock to the bottom of the river. Knowing what the trigger is, we can make a choice to break the cycle. Some good choices we can make:
As soon as we are in a better frame of mind, and our energy is higher, we can focus again on what brought us down, and choose what to do about it from a better place, internally. The cycle of unhappiness is broken for the moment and what could have made us feel very bad turns out to be a reason to make us feel even better than we did before! In the long term, the issues that reappear repeatedly, the things that constantly bring us down, probably need work, with a therapist; using energy work, such as Reiki, to clear the blocks to happiness; carrying out a spiritual retreat for inner guidance and help with shifting our patterns. Most importantly, whenever we feel ourselves being tempted back into the cycle of unhappiness, we must remember to ask ourselves: How can this situation become an opportunity to bring out my Highest Self and align me with my Spirit? When I ask this, you may feel your physical body's energy changing, shifting so that you are even inclined to sit or stand straighter, feel lighter or see more clearly. I'm hoping it’s easy for you to engage happiness when faced with the cycle of unhappiness. I love to hear your reactions to my reflections, and I am thrilled to read about your own processes, so please write me about them. Wishing you peace and joy always, For me, life is all about discovering and expressing my essential, genuine self through my experiences. It is my responsibility to do my part in maintaining good health and what my teacher called good energy hygiene. I am responsible for keeping my energy field clear of what does not belong there, so that, on my best days, I feel strong, clear, centered and easily in touch with who I truly am. When I don't feel that way, I know I am being offered a chance to become even more aware of who that authentic self is. Sometimes, it takes clearing the energies that are attached to me, sometimes it means looking at the ways in which parts of me, like my ego, have been attacking my personal life force energy. Each time I engage in the process of purifying my personal energy, I am engaging in the process of discovering my authenticity. About the Author
©2008 Andrea Friedmann. All rights reserved. |
