Clap along if you feel that happiness is the truth…

I have been reminded on several occasions lately the importance of not only focusing on the good things in your life, but also the importance to letting the world see that you are happy.

I don’t think it is about putting on “a happy face,” it has to be deeper than that. And, while I think there are times when we need to fake it until we make it, that isn’t what I am talking about here.

I have found, that happiness truly is a choice. And in it’s purest form, it is contagious.

For me,it has been a discipline of focusing on the things in my life that ARE good. Things that DO make bring me  happiness. It is an awareness that I am holding the pen.. and as an adult, I am writing my own story.

I am convinced that we all have something, or can at least attach ourselves to something, that makes happiness attainable. Somehow taking control of the “pen” and writing our happy ever-after. But, if we are focused on what is “wrong” then we can only see the bad that we associate with the “wrong.”

Why do I think it is important to live it in a way, or wear happiness in a way, that others can see? Because there are times in our lives where we simply cannot find it on our own, and we rely on someone else’s stories to bring us to the end of our own dark tunnel. Often times we, are the light that will bring them out.

I recall a not so distant time when a friend invited me to a girls weekend, during the weekend we were “Desire Mapping.” Desire Map – is a book and program by Danielle LaPorte. The facilitator, my friend Paulie, walked us through the work of finding descriptive words on how we wanted our lives to feel…. not Be.. but feel. . . . .I had never considered how I wanted it to feel. I knew how it should look, or be, or…. but FEEL?  Wow, how did I want my life to feel.

My words ~full-filled, content, happy~.  An awe ha, moment for me was a simple phrase of “give yourself permission to let go…..”  Could it be that easy? Could it really be as easy as letting go of the things that aren’t working in order to reach our goal? I say yes.

Since that retreat weekend, I have been doing a lot of that. Letting go, letting God, letting things and people fall away, adding new challenges, new assignments to come my way. I have trusted my gut, I have learned to be for myself, what I wished others had been. Forgiving them and moving forward. I have found laughter, and grace, and a deeper faith. I have found my voice, and my compassion, and my actions strengthened. I have found joy and humor and …yes happiness. . . . . . . . . . . . Contentment………. and a fulfillment is the most unpredictable places. I have emptied myself of the things that didn’t loan themselves to my descriptive words.

I have learned that happy…. begets happy.  Webster says it like this…..

I have learned that being happy isn’t a place of destination… it is actually a vehicle for the journey. So, if you’re happy…….. make sure you are wearing it well.. there are others out there that in this moment need you to give them a ride out of the tunnel. What do you what your life to feel like?