Don’t Worry….Be Happiness
This is a take off on the famous song by Bobby McFerrin…don’t worry be happy…it was a fun little ditty back in the day. I was living in San Francisco in those days and went to one of the little clubs in North Beach and watched him perform it live.
This title is intentionally different – often we think being happy is the result of events, circumstances or moments in which something wonderful, funny or sweet happens and we notice ourselves breaking into a smile or a laugh and having that happy feeling. Or perhaps a glass of bubbly – or cabernet or another substance gives us that momentary high and happy feeling – emphasis on momentary. That leads us to look for that same feeling again and again – in that same way or in a different way – but illusive and fleeting.
Occasionally we come closer – and we say things like “ I think I am a happy person” which sounds a lot like a personality assessment as opposed to the essence or source of what I am pointing to…
When we change the phrase we change the meaning and there is a big difference in being happy (off and on) and knowing ourselves as Happiness itself – or as Love or as Light.
Long ago our brains established a false sense of perception. The brain’s left cerebral hemisphere, where the faulty interpretations and major fabrications start, plucks out a story and creates an image to match…for instance that old example of seeing a coiled snake in the middle of your hiking path – only to find out later that it was a rope. This false perception judges, distorts, and causes unnecessary emotional distress. This past week I have seen story after story that my left cerebral cortex got a hold of – created images galore to match and created some suffering. One of the main problems became that the stories were vastly different; in some cases didn’t make sense, and did seem wildly fabricated. Add into that the frightening nature of the situation that continues to be hyped by the media, and we have a cocktail that does NOT produce happiness. Fortunately I know I am not at the mercy of that cortex – I am more than the story I am playing endlessly in my head and so are you.
It may seem initially that the way out of this situation is to replace our stories and images with happy thoughts…and of course it isn’t bad advice. But like the bubbly or the vodka martini with two olives (yum) it only works for a bit and creates a sense of ping pong ball…happy thoughts – unhappy thoughts and off we go.
Instead we could look at Source – we could look again into what is before the thought occurs, and that leads us to our essence. When we declare we are happiness – it moves from being pursued to having been here all along. And we greet all situations in our lives FROM happiness or FROM love or FROM light because my friends- that is what we truly are. Beyond the story. If you need a little boost in this direction – try this – ask yourself – Can I let this story go – this story of fear and worry – this story of this person who has wronged me – this story of running out of money – whatever it may be. Can I let it go …just for a moment. And in that moment look past your story to essence- Keep looking – and you will begin to see we are so much more than our stories or our experiences…We ARE happiness in motion having experiences.
Try it – and maybe pull out Bobby’s song and sing along.
