Pursuit of Happiness

The elusive pursuit for gaining happiness – if we are asking the question about what we truly desire through our continued examination of what we want and why – ultimately we discover that it truly and simply is: Happiness is what we deeply desire. This is a built-in response to living our lives with Joy!

Emmanuel Dagher discusses in his latest Super Abundance course that we require three things to create balance and abundance in our lives. They are Spiritual growth, creative expression and joyful living. He believes that every day we need to put our energy into all three of these to be Happy. Every. Day. What does that mean? Whether it is five minutes we spend on each or hours that we put toward each of these three things, we will find more happiness if we are more balanced. Ultimately, of course, it is about focusing on our greatest investment: ourselves.

Let’s explore what these three things mean:

Spiritual Growth: This can be meditating, reading spiritual books, listening to guided meditation or uplifting music, or it can being grounded by going barefoot on the Earth. Whatever you do to Grow Spiritually is right for you. It is your choice. We are all different and therefore we all have different ways to achieve this. There is no cookie cutter way to your Spiritual Growth. And your choice is dependent on your intuition – which comes through your senses and skills – all unique to you.

Meditation is different for everyone. Some need to have a walking meditation, some relaxing mindfulness, some will require complete silence and others chanting. Auditory people require sounds, music, singing or guided meditations. Empaths need to feel into their bodies, learn via symbols seen with open eyes or in their imagination with eyes closed, and some through walking meditations. Visual people probably require to shut their eyes so they are not distracted, yet they may find observing a fire, lit candle or sitting on rocks near the water to assist them.

We are all so different. However, to grow spiritually we do need reflection on our fears and reactions and how we do this will depend on our individual selves and how we learn and can become mindful observers of our lives.

Creative Expression: This is our life work. Whatever we ‘do’ is our creative expression. Many people spend too much time on this area. We can’t BE happy if we are only work oriented. That is why it is phrased as Creative Expression. It is our gifts or what we offer the world. If we can do this by expanding our creative expression then we won’t feel like it is ‘work’ but rather it will be what we give, as our passion, to the world. It may not even be what gives us our main income but it WILL be what fuels our Soul.

Our Creative Expression is just as important as our Spiritual Growth – because it feeds our Soul all the same. When we can combine our Creative Expression – our Work – with our actions for Spiritual Growth then we will embrace a more balanced and Happier life. The important part of this is that we allow a portion of our day to doing something creative. What – or how – doesn’t matter as much as the process, the ‘doing’ of it. It is always the journey, not the outcome, that matters. Even your 9-5 work day can offer Creative outlets. Use your imagination and explore your Creative Expression!

Joyful Living: This is taking time to Play! Every day it is important to take time to Play! This can be however you define it. It could be something Creative or Spiritual – as long as it brings you JOY and you consider it to be Play. I believe we don’t intentionally Play anymore. And we should. What does Playing mean to you? And can you bring that into your daily life along with Spiritual Growth activities and your Creative Expression?

Too often we are too serious on this, our Spiritual journey. We need to BE Open and EnJOY all of the journey and stop focusing on just the End Goal. The End Goal is to… BE Happy! However, every day is the Journey – everyday – and the three components of Spiritual Growth, Creative Expression, and JoyFull Living (a.k.a. PLAY) should be part of our every day. And why? Because these three components bring HAPPINESS! So when we realize that it is our choice to create the balance in our lives – every day – then we realize that this is really, and always, our Choice to BE Happy.

And happiness doesn’t come from what is outside of us. It comes through the Choices we make and whether or not we are Consciously Choosing to BE Happy. I can’t emphasize this more – we ‘choose’ to BE Happy. Our environment, other people and what is happening at any given moment – these don’t define us or in themselves give us Happiness. We Consciously Choose to BE Happy!

We are in ‘charge’ of our state of Mind and our state of Heart, not the other way around. Our Minds and Hearts are not in charge! There is something deeper and broader that we call ourselves – that urges us to follow our mind or our heart when we make decisions in Life. For ME, as an example, it is ‘I’ who chooses to work with and/or follow my Heart (vs my mind). Yes, each of us … we are EACH in ‘charge’ of how we respond to life.

We may feel that we are a victim of our circumstances – but that just isn’t true. WE are in charge not the circumstances. Not others. WE are the ones and We have to STOP giving our power away to what is happening around us and begin to make decision on how WE, as individuals, want to show up in our own lives.

Playing is a necessary part of our Evolution… just like children and pets will Play. Children and pets don’t worry about what is happening at any given moment – to them Playing is the most important part of their day. What has happened to us that we have forgotten how to play? We should remember the value of play.

What types of activities allow you to Play, to be JOYful? As I sit here I’m trying to come up with ideas about playing… cooking can be JOYful for some (as long as there isn’t any judgements or guilt involved – let’s face it eating and cooking can be tedious – and painful even – for some), reading is something I enJOY, certain exercises – like swimming is pleasurable for me, watching FUNny videos or movies that make me laugh. Creating something is Playing as long as it doesn’t have an agenda but is ‘free’ and JOYous to the one doing the creating.

What can you do today that is FUN? What can you do today that is PLAY? What can you do today that is JOYful Living? I don’t have YOUR answers, I have MINE. But I urge you to consider what it is that brings this part of the balance of your life into alignment with the other two parts we are considering now.

The last part of this pursuing happiness and then BECOMING happy through our balanced activities is related to how Positive we are in our everyday lives. I am adding this important part to what Emmanuel has offered so brightly and clearly (this addition comes from my interviews with Tom Campbell). Remaining positive and making positive choices is very important in our Pursuit of Happiness.

We need to BE Authentic so if we aren’t feeling particularly Positive we need to examine why and just not pretend to be something we are not. BEing in denial doesn’t help us and BEing Pollyanna-ish is just as defeating as our Fears and other negative feelings. In order to Grow Up we need to Let Go of our Fears and understand how debilitating they are. Feeling our pain and fears can be cathartic and offer deep relief by way of showing us what it is that needs to be Let GO.

The problem is when we stay in our pain – this keeps us stuck in that place and feeling like a victim. Our Ego will challenge us to feel like we are dependent on our outside world to make us Happy. The pain will stop us from EnJOYing our life.

BEing Positive is knowing everything has a reason. BEing Positive is a conscious choice to BE uplifted instead of being dragged down by holding onto Fear. BEing Positive is choosing to Go Within, Breathing, Smiling on the inside – instead of allowing Fear to keep us perplexed and frozen in place. That is the problem right? When our fears keep us stuck – we feel frozen and we can’t move forward. We certainly aren’t Happy!

BEing Positive is like a Breath of Fresh Air. It is expansive, opening and Loving. Just like Happiness is a Choice – to remain positive in the face of adversity – is empowering and expansive – and yes, a Choice. This ‘choosing’ is actually an activity that we can undertake every day, too. If there is something that makes us angry or afraid or takes us away from the Positive feelings of our moments – this is WONDERFUL because it gives us something to look at and to act on.

Such feelings, if we don’t address them, don’t look at them, can keep us confused and unable to make a decision, a rightful decision. So when it is in our FACE it is time for us to look at the feeling and where it came from and see what we can do to allow the feeling to change so that we can continue on our Journey to Happiness.

So what does YOUR Pursuit of Happiness look like? Can you add activities that offer Spiritual Growth, Creative Expression, Playing and BEing Positive to your day? Every day?

I am taking the summer off from my shows and writing Blogs. I have some more students assisting me to explore my Creative Expression. For one thing: I will be creating a New Service – Vaccine AfterCare for those who chose or were forced to be Vaccinated and are now experiencing a disconnect or physical discomfort. And I will certainly make time for me to focus on activities that are more Playful, Positive and Expansive in my Spiritual Evolution. Balance is a goal that I’ve been working on through my walks and my relationships. What do YOU need to help you BEcome more balanced, Happy, Creative, PlayFUL and Positive? Let’s Explore this together.

Have a Happy Summer, With Love and an Open Heart, Laurie ❤️