Have you read “the untethered soul” by Michael A. Sanger?
In the book, in chapter 15, he talks about unconditional happiness. I would also call it true happiness.
He says:
“The highest spiritual path is life itself If you know how to live daily life, it all becomes a liberating experience. But first you have to approach life properly, or it can be very confusing. To begin with, you have to realize that you really only have one choice in this life, and it’s not about your career, whom you want to marry, or whether you want to seek God. People tend to burden themselves with so many choices. But, in the end, you can throw it all away and just make one basic, underlying decision: Do you want to be happy, or do you not want to be happy? It’s really that simple. Once you make that choice, your path through life becomes totally clear.”
he goes on to say:
“Most people don’t dare give themselves that choice because they think it’s not under their control. Someone might say;, “Well, of course I want to be happy, but my wife left me.” In other words, they want to be happy, but not if their wife leaves them, Bur that wasn’t the question. The question was, very simply, “Do you want to be happy or nor?” If you keepit that simple, you will see that it really is under your control. It’s just that you have a deep-seated set of preferences that gets in the way.”
My interpretation is that if we want to be happy, we must choose it.
Let that sink for a moment (and exhale deeply).
I don’t believe he is saying that we shouldn’t feel other emotions like anger, grief, sadness, outraged and different feelings we may qualify as inappropriate or negative.
In my opinion, all emotions are valid.
But can we also choose happiness amid a lousy day?
“Sometimes I have bad moments, but I never have a bad day.”
My greatest teacher regarding happiness is my son.
When he was a young child, I always asked him how his day was after coming home from school.
He always answered with a single word: “good.” That went on for weeks and months.
One day after the standard “good” answer, I asked Shawn, “when you come home from school, and I ask you how your day was, you always say good. Do you ever have a bad day?”
He looked at me, thought for a moment, and said: “No. Sometimes I have bad moments, but I never have a bad day.”
He was seven.
What will you choose today?
Fluctuation is a natural way of life. But sometimes, we must be reminded and supported to find true happiness during chaos.
I am here to let you know that you are not alone, to remind you to breathe through whatever you are going through today.
We can move forward in life with joy when surrounded by friends, family, a coach, or a mentor.
We can choose happiness as we cry on our bestie’s shoulder.
To me, having that friend at that moment is true happiness + walking on the beach, gentle waves lapping over my feet. :)
So I invite you to share your happy moments with the world.
We need them more than ever!
As our light shines brightly, we spill it on all around us.
I am here to support you and guide you, always!
With Love from Santa Monica,
Cathy D