Liberating Happiness

We don’t need to create happiness. We need to LIBERATE it. Set it FREE. Why do I say this?

Because, it seems to me, we – humanity as a whole – have falsely imprisoned Happiness. We have put happiness in sort of a state of ‘house arrest’. How have we done this? We have made it CONDITIONAL.

We have unwittingly limited the conditions under which we allow ourselves to experience happiness. By doing so, we have falsely imprisoned happiness. We have imprisoned happiness and sent it away to the land of, “I’ll be happy when,…” or the land of ‘waiting until’ we have more money, better relationships, better circumstances, better whatever. We have created a belief that excludes happiness as a present moment possibility.

We have taken happiness and made it unwelcome and unavailable in our present conditions, whatever they are. And the crux of this dilemma is, those of us who are doing this think we are RIGHT to do so.

This seems to be one of the biggest obstacles we have, in the pursuit of experiencing the kinds of lives that we want: Our own beliefs. When we believe something – even it it’s not at all in our best interests – we tend to DEFEND and JUSTIFY and RATIONALIZE and make RIGHT why we believe what we believe.

We tend to BELIEVE our beliefs, no matter how wrong or incorrect or unsound or unscientific they are. We tend to believe our beliefs, even (or even ESPECIALLY) when they harm us or prevent us from creating the lives we want and could otherwise have. And our beliefs about what it takes to be happy are subject to this same tendency.

Too bad. Because when we believe we already KNOW what would make us happy (and we believe it’s out of our current reach) we blind ourselves to what could REALLY allow us to be happy, right here, and right now.

The experience of happiness is an ever-present possibility. It’s like the sun, on a cloudy overcast day. It’s still there, shining bright and warm, behind the clouds. Happiness is here, now, but resides quietly behind the walls of our negating beliefs.

"One day Socrates was walking down a street with some friends when a nobleman approached. As was customary, Socrates greeted him, but the nobleman walked straight past, declining to return the courtesy. The friends of the philosopher were angry at the nobleman but Socrates used the incident to teach a lesson.

'Suppose,' said Socrates, 'you meet a man on the street with poorer clothing than your own? Would that make you angry? Why then are you angry at a man who has poorer mental habits than you possess?'

The friends of Socrates were enlightened by hearing of this totally new way to respond to a so-called insult." ~~The Daily Guru~~

“We create our own heaven or hell. Your thoughts can imprison you or set you free. Complications, conditions or people do not upset you, but the way you think about them causes your upset. Freedom is not possible until we discipline and retrain our minds.” - p. 124 of Choose To Live Peacefully by Susan Smith Jones, Ph.D.

Examine your feelings and beliefs. Set yourself free.

Phil

quote:

"One day Socrates was walking down a street with some friends when a nobleman approached. As was customary, Socrates greeted him, but the nobleman walked straight past, declining to return the courtesy. The friends of the philosopher were angry at the nobleman but Socrates used the incident to teach a lesson.

'Suppose,' said Socrates, 'you meet a man on the street with poorer clothing than your own? Would that make you angry? Why then are you angry at a man who has poorer mental habits than you possess?'

I LOVE that! I'll be sure to remember it the next time I meet someone with an "attitude".
Thanks for sharing.

Imagine, what would it feel like to see the world through happy eyes?

Appreciation from the Heart,

Richard De Haven

I like that experience attributed
to Socrates, also.
Thanks, Phil, for writing it.

Happiness is liberated the moment you CHOOSE happiness, and you can do that any time.

quote:

Originally posted by Rebecca:
Happiness is liberated the moment you CHOOSE happiness, and you can do that any time.

Unless, it seems, one believes it would be immoral.

For example, I was having a conversation with a lady where I work, and ‘happiness’ came up. I said, “I think most people just want to be happy.” She said, “Yeah,.. Isn’t that disgusting?”

No, it didn’t seem she was joking. What came out later in conversation was how she was raised to believe it was wrong to be happy. She said it was a ‘selfish’ thing, and she was taught it was wrong to be selfish.

It didn’t seem to be appropriate to say anymore about it, so I left it alone. But it made me more aware that some people seem to believe it would be wrong to be happy, and so won’t allow themselves to be,… at least not for very long. (I have seen this woman smile, but it seems she will then ‘catch’ herself.)

Other people seem to beleive that being happy would make them complacent. That's one I had to overcome. Interesting,...

Phil

Interesting Phil! I had to overcome GUILT...how dare I, how could I feel happy when everyone around me (that I perceived) was so unhappy???? This was a huge breakthrough for me and I am happy to say I have overcome it! Yippee!

Rebecca, you are so correct...HAPPINESS is a choice that I can make and something that I can experience right now, right this very moment! And I choose to!

Thanks everyone for your inspiring and heartfelt posts.

With love and appreciation,
LauraK

Very interesting conversation we have here. I remember when I was young and I had the flu or ear infection and feeling totally miserable and I would hear other family members laughing and having a good time, I remember thinking how can they be so happy and I feel so miserable, I must be different.

Maybe as I grew up and saw people doing what they want or feeling happy and I would want to be like that subconsciously I am saying yea they are happy or things come easy to them but you are different. This could be the answer to a lot of psychological issues. Or how people’s minds work.

quote:

Unless, it seems, one believes it would be immoral.

And that's still a matter of CHOICE.