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Last month I was perusing my local used bookstore when I came across something called "The Happiness Project". I began to read it and discovered it was about a woman's year long journey to be more happy. The idea that she made happiness a goal for an entire year excited and intrigued me. So often I hear about happiness projects being a goal of 30 days or something similar. I could only imagine what would change for me if happiness was my priority for twelve months straight. I then sat with the feeling that if making happiness a priority for a year feels revolutionary, it means I'm not making it a priority now. And if it's not my motivation, what is? My answer to this was two things - one, to accomplish things so I don't feel awkward when I'm socializing. I need to tell people what I'm doing and what I've done so that they won't perceive me as being lazy and undisciplined. It stunned me to realize a large motivating factor for me is what other people think of me. My other priority in life is how I'm going to feel taken care of. How will I make money? How will I survive? This too surprised me, because as a writer I had always told myself I was living the opposite of the pursuit of money and security. And yet this has been a driving force in how I feel and what I want for most of my life. I'm so used to the idea that this world is about survival that even in the pursuit of my purest, most beloved passion I forgot to bring happiness into it. What then would happen if I thought of what makes me happy and made that my priority? The author of the book started on January 1st, dedicating each month to a happiness goal. This too felt revolutionary. So often we put all of our plans for change into one pressure-filled moment. We want our News Years resolutions to sweep through and change our whole life, without considering that each resolution needs time to be nurtured and rooted. Since I bought the book in mid-February I decided to wait until March 1st to begin. That would give me more time to read about her journey, which was already inspiring and uplifting me. Just hearing about how someone else's life positively changes for the better can do so much to get us up and going. Even though I wouldn't begin for several weeks, I decided to go ahead and write my list. Once I'd finished I'd wondered if I'd done a good job. Was it a good idea to make a month dedicated to laughter? How would I laugh more? Maybe that was too vague... and what about the goal to be outside more? I don't love gardening and yet I'd included that as part of an outdoor-oriented month... The fact that I wasn't sure if I knew what would make me happier speaks volumes in itself. But then I thought of something I wanted to add and as I went down the list there was nothing I wanted to remove to make room for it. So that was it. I had my list. (And I did sneak that thing in - it was a spiritual tome I've been wanting to read, and I piggy backed it on my meditation month). It's now mid-March and I still haven't officially started my happiness project. I want to completely finish the book before I do so, as I know one of my non-happy habits is rushing. When I begin I book I devour it as fast as I can, sometimes falling asleep while I read. I get an idea for a project and I dive in, giving it hours at a time before I stop to ask myself how I'm feeling and if I'm ready for this next step. I had already noticed my leadfoot when it came to kick starting things in my life, so I didn't officially put "slow down" in the list. I'm considering it an over-arching, year long goal that will support all the other ones. You don't need the book in order to begin your own happiness project. The author has tons of information online, including a blog, podcasts and a starter kit for a Happiness Project group. How do you feel about a year of happiness? Does it sound like a lot of work, or like you'd change your priorities and find a new way of living? I've made an Instagram page to go along with this website. Every day I'll post a mini-meditation with a reminder for you to breathe and center. I'll only be posting meditations. As you scroll through your 'Gram get your daily reminder to pause, breathe and feel loved. An example of what I'll be posting is below. Take a deep breath and then come and connect with me!
Let's play a little game of imagination.
I want you to imagine that everything you think is said back to you by... You. This other You isn't standing in front of you. This other Self, rather, is out in the Universe. You might picture this You as up in the sky, or up in the stars, or just as a big You floating above Earth. Now I want you to consider phrases you generally think in your daily life. Specifically, phrases related to your pursuit of goals, a relationship and your well being. For example, when thinking about your goals you may often think to yourself, How will I get this? And now this you that's out there, with complete conviction sends this right back to you "HOW WILL I GET THIS?" So let's say I'm thinking about my screenplays, which I love to write and often try to figure out how to get them sold. I think to myself, "How can I sell my work?" And Me, out in the Universe, with full force sends back, "HOW CAN I SELL MY WORK?" Now as you can imagine, this You that's out there is the Universe responding back to you. The Universe is always - always - reflecting back to you what you put out. And this You that's out there is connected to everyone and everything else. But wait - I don't want the Universe to be asking me how to sell my work! I'm asking the Universe, and I want it to send back the answers. So in order to get the Universe to send back, "I know what to do," then I must think that? But I don't know what to do! But... but... but... Deep breath. It's okay. The Universe absolutely can show you what to do, one step after another, but only when you learn how to engage its magic. If you want the Universe to work for you then you have to put out there, "I know what I'm doing." Or even better, as Wayne Dyer says in the book I'm now reading, "There's a divine solution to every problem." Or perhaps better still, "I have everything I need. All my needs are taken care of." I know how difficult it can be to project "All of my needs are taken care of," when we look around and see that is not the case. It feels reckless and immature and foolhardy. It can feel as if it's a waste of time, and we need to buckle up and get serious and ask over and over, "What do I do now? How can I make this work? Who should I call?" This feeling of lack, or even perhaps desperation, gets reflected back to us by everyone and everything, because all is One. So the more we feed into our worries and try to resolve them from the mind level the more people and circumstances show up to affirm to us that Yes, things are bad, and you should be freaking out! To have the whole world conspiring to show you why you should be afraid is really intense. But... to have the world, the whole Universe really, conspiring to show you how you're taken care of and how loved you are is equally intense, but in a positive and sometimes even euphoric way. Feeding into our worries by focusing on them and trying to figure them out feels so natural the idea of shifting to a new way of being and doing may feel impossible. It may feel like there isn't even a choice. But you are a being with free will, and you are always at choice. So the next time you want to begin asking, "How can I get more money?" just try, just for a few minutes, to sit with something else. Close your eyes and quietly repeat to yourself, I have more money than I need. Then imagine that being reflected back to you by You. Imagine that You out in the Universe is sending this message, "I have more money than I need" out to everything. And everything is receiving this message and sending back all the money in the world, because that's what you've aligned with. This isn't something that should be an immediate shift into, oh, wow, I get it, I will never again worry or ask how to make something happen! Putting that kind of pressure on it won't allow you to grow and evolve into this new way of being. It's a process of daily shifts, of catching yourself when you're projecting the fear, and then imagining the whole Universe reflecting back to you that fear, reminding you of how powerful you are. Each time you stop and shift, you shift your power in a positive direction. And so now, what is it you want the Universe to be flowing to you through every person, plant, bee, star and speck of dust? If you don't know, you can always go with All is Well, the easy button phrase that takes care of everything. |