How To Be Happy Anyway

I’ve been feeling angry.

I think we all have. No matter what side of the political spectrum we are, everyone seems to be angry. And it’s contagious. I can’t turn on the internet or the television without getting angry.

So I have to deal with that.

Why not stay angry?

Anger, you see, has ripples. It ripples outward and affects the people around us, the work we produce. Everything we touch becomes a match to anger, frustration, impatience, irritability.

Anger ripples inward, too, and that affects our health. It translates in our bodies as stress, and those harmful hormones and fight-or-flight chemicals flood our bloodstreams, stealing resources that should be busy replenishing us and keeping us healthy. Acid reflux, ulcers, inflammation, high blood pressure and heart palpitations are just a few of the results we can expect from that.

Anger’s ripples affect our frequency, re-tuning our invisible radio dial to the station playing angry things. I call it GRR-107. And as you know, if you’ve been reading this blog, the frequency we’re tuning in is the only one we can hear. Everything we experience in our lives around us, has to match the vibration we’re emanating. So when we’re beaming a signal of anger, we are attracting angry people, events, and things to us like an anger-electromagnet.

Moment of Insight

I was settling into meditation this morning, when I realized I had forgotten to bring my feather. I have a special feather I’ve been meditating with lately, and I intended to bring it outside with me. So I thought, “Oh, no! I forgot my feather!”

But since I was already sinking into that state of silent alignment, I had an immediate, peaceful, inner reply. “Guess I’ll be meditating without it, then.”

And then the angels sang, and the light dawned. I had stumbled upon the simple formula we can use to tweak our response to any and all adverse situations!

My car’s broken! Guess I’ll be taking the bus.

I’m out of milk! Guess I’ll be skipping milk today.

I’m out of money! Guess I’m broke until some more comes in.

Because you have to do whatever it is you have to do, even if the conditions aren’t perfect, right? You don’t refuse to meditate because you forgot your feather. You meditate anyway. You don’t refuse to go to work because your car broke down. You take the bus. You don’t go hungry all day because you’re out of your favorite. You eat something else.

We can apply this to the most important thing we ever have to do. Apply this to our core spiritual practice of staying aligned with our higher selves.

My political party’s not in power! Guess I’ll have to be satisfied anyway.

My country’s committing atrocities! Guess I’ll have to be satisfied anyway.

I’m terrified of climate change! Guess I’ll have to be satisfied anyway.

Do you see how freaking easy that is?

Satisfied doesn't mean complacent

This doesn’t mean we approve of what is. It means we don’t use what is as an excuse to be swayed from our course. We must have the ability to rise about it. To be blissful and content in our moment to moment experience because of our spiritual connection period. We must never allow conditions we don’t like to rob us of our bliss.

Look, being miserable in our lives isn’t going to change anything. In fact, our being happy in our lives, creates a positive ripple.

It ripples outward and affects the people around us, the work we produce. Everything we touch becomes a match to happiness, hope, optimism, contentment, evolution, expansion, and well being.

It ripples inward, too, and that affects our health. It translates in our bodies as stability, security, ease, and confidence. Our cells are busily replenishing themselves, our DNA keeps itself in good repair, and wellness abounds.

Satisfied ripples affect our frequency, re-tuning our invisible radio dial to the station playing satisfied, contented things. I call it Mmm-111. And as you know, if you’ve been reading this blog, the frequency we’re tuning in is the only one we can hear. Everything we experience in our lives around us, has to match the vibration we’re emanating. When we’re beaming a signal of satisfied or better, we’re attracting satisfied-or-better people, events, and things to us like a contentment-electromagnet.

We have a gravitational pull all our own!

Be in the world, not of it

We can be informed, and even involved. But only if we have the spiritual discipline to hold ourselves above it. To be happy anyway. To maintain our tuner at Satisfied or higher on the radio dial. And that discipline comes from one thing and one thing only. The art of presence.

Practicing presence isn’t hard. You can do it in three steps:

Step 1. Stop the mind chatter. Focus on something that will distract you from it without fueling it. A droning sound, a babbling brook, a ticking clock, a candle flame, tinkling windchimes, or counting your breaths. (Nice and slow, 3 counts in, 5 counts out.) As thoughts come, pull your focus back to your sound and your counting and your breaths. This is called meditation. It’s really just a withdrawal of focus. It’s how you hit the pause button on the mind chatter stuck on replay in your brain. Try to do this for ten to fifteen minutes every day, as many days a week as you can.

Step 2. Next comes the after party. After meditation, before you return to normal activity, notice everything around you, focusing on one sense at a time. First listen. You’ll hear layers upon layers of sound, especially if you’re outside. Then inhale, and notice what you smell. Next feel the sun or the breeze on your skin, the softness of the cushion underneath you. Finally, open your eyes and look and notice how much you see, the play of light and shadow, the layers you don’t usually notice.

This is presence.

Sounds time-consuming

If your connection to Source isn’t worth 20 minutes a day to you, then you’re clearly not aware of its importance. It’s everything. It’s your top priority. Your connection is what gives you the power to create everything in your life.

And beyond that, if you do this in the morning, most mornings, that after party bit of it gets ingrained, and you’ll find yourself doing it more and more throughout the day. You’ll just stop thought, and look around and notice the infinite pleasures in the present moment.

Being happy anyway

Every time we meditate, we plug into the internet of spirit and download the latest updates. All the virus protection, all the patches. Every glitch is fixed, and all relevant data is downloaded.

Every moment we spend being fully present, is a moment less we can spend thinking about, worrying about, feeling angry about things we can’t control.

Let it all work itself out. And know that it will. Every unpleasant experience creates its own opposite. The bowstring draws back further and further, and when the balance shifts, that arrow of correction flies far. The worst things seem, the greater the potential for solutions that will lift the entire world to a higher level than before.

Support what you support. But do it while keeping yourself separate from it. Remember that it does not define you. Your ability to find pleasure in any moment, under any circumstances is what defines you. And that is entirely within your own hands.

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