Seeking Happiness...

Is anyone else out there noticing a tap on the shoulder, or maybe a stronger push, to go deeper, create more, expand and grow in new ways this year? I am noticing conversations with an ongoing theme, that something is calling us to shift. Many aren’t even clear about what that looks like yet, just that it is a felt sense and demanding attention. I am always so curious when I see common themes emerging in the collective psyche. It tells me that something is pushing through like the flower that grows through the cement. It won’t be held back. There is so much potential here in this time, and I believe that the creative capacity of all of us is like that flower wanting to push us open to new light.

For me, as I develop projects in my life, the topic of happiness and what it means to be happy keeps coming back. I think now more than ever, we can easily fall into a trap of seeking experiences, and there are many, to give us a “hit of happiness” which don’t actually bring us happiness, they just assuage our misery or distract us from what brings us a deep and sustainable happiness of being. We have at our disposal more information, more toys, more media, more opinion, more technology than ever. Heck, I've got an AI bot tracking me right now as I write this, wanting to interject its writing guidance! Because information and stimulus is so readily available, we can easily choose it as our default, and call it our source of well-being. But I observe, and maybe you do too, that very little of this stuff brings a sense of deep-abiding peace and happiness. Often it brings greater anxiety and confusion, lodging itself in our gut, as it all seems too big to overcome. We are binge-ing on everything, and our senses are on overload.

So how do we actually experience Happiness as our primary state? Maybe first we need to clarify Happiness. I’ll propose that it’s not a feeling attached to any experience, but an indwelling state of being that trusts the creative capacity of Life itself to emerge through us with an intelligence that is not limited to the thinking or emotional brain, or limited at all. It’s an engagement with Life in an ongoing organic partnership, not an addictive state that needs the rush of excitement. It isn’t so affected by circumstances because it anchors a deeper gratitude of the majesty of life itself which is all around, and all of the time. And Happiness wants to share itself openly. It is a natural invitation to celebrate.

We’ve all had pure moments of Happiness “just because,” and I think this is a doorway into our actual Happiness as a way of being. Whenever we have a moment of just being Happy, without a story attached to it, we can learn from that moment. We can fully and mindfully check that out and see where it leads us. It will likely lead us to both our gratitude for feeling this way, and whatever stands in the way of feeling this way more often. It’s an opportunity to steep in its goodness, and also to clean the inner home, making more room for this feeling to dwell consistently.

May you find your Happiness and share that gift with the world…

Melanie

I offer FREE discovery sessions to explore this or any other topic that is meaningful for you. Reach out to me at Melanie@innertegrity.com, or visit my website at www.innertegrity.com/sessions