Everything we do, we do in the belief that it will make us happier.
But how can we be and stay happy when we are not necessarily able to be proactive in any situation?
I recently read a very interesting article on www.mindpowernews.com by Bert Goldman which I would like to share. Its message is strong in its simplicity. He cites a philosophy with 5 rules to maintain happiness
Rule 1:
If you like a thing, enjoy it.
This seems rather obvious but in fact there are many people who don’t actually enjoy some things they like due to feelings of fear or guilt. If you like something but fear the consequences of what you are doing, this will detract from your enjoyment. In the same way, if you know you are going to feel guilty after doing something, how much can you really enjoy it?
Fear and guilt are two emotions that we should explore to see how we can eradicate them and start living!
Rule 2:
If you don’t like a thing, avoid it.
Again, this appears obvious, but how many people are putting up with things they don’t like because they think they “should” be in a place (working in a job they don’t like just to get security), or be with a person, for example a “friend” who they have known for years but drains their energy due to a habit of constant complaining.
Rule 3:
If you don’t like a thing and you can’t avoid it, change it.
This is more easier said than done for a lot of people as we come back to people rationalising their situations due to inertia and fear. How many times have you heard people saying they “can’t” as they don’t have enough time, money or skills?
Rule 4:
If you don’t like a thing and can’t or won’t avoid or change it, accept it.
This is a basic tenet of most spiritual teachings – acceptance. And why not? If we can’t avoid or change something that we don’t like and this is causing us to be unhappy, if we just accept the situation and stop resisting, the unhappiness goes away. It sounds very simple. But how can we accept something that we don’t like and makes us feel unhappy?
Rule 5:
Accept a thing by changing your attitude towards it.
This is the key. How you feel is governed by your thoughts, so change your thoughts about something you don’t like to positive thoughts and you will be on your way to feeling happier. You are the result of your viewpoints and attitude because everything is relative to the person experiencing it. Nothing is good, bad, upsetting or exciting in itself. It just is. It is what WE think and therefore feel about something which gives it a label, a label of relativity.
Most of us don’t realise that the main cause of what we have in our life is caused by BEING, not doing.
So if you want to feel happy, just BE happy. If you persist with this practice you will eventually see that all the experiences in your life are ones to be happy about!
