In this moment I have decided that I want to be happy. It is my choice to be joyful, and no matter what is going on outside of me this is the state I choose.
There are terrible things happening in the world. People are starving, there are conflicts that could lead to war, the climate is a concern, and our very existence seems threatened.
Still, I choose to be joyful. I am unable to suffer enough to change what is out of my control.
I have tremendous sympathy for others who are struggling, and I do what is within my power to help when I can.
Still I feel joy.
When I am happy, I offer that vibration to the world. I smile at strangers, assist an elderly woman to open a door, give up my seat on the subway to someone who needs it more than I do. I interact with those around me, leaving a trail of positive energy wherever I go.
This makes me feel even more joy.
When we begin to understand that our state of mind is a choice, we can then take steps to live a peaceful existence. What you focus on is what will expand in your awareness.
If your focus is mostly on suffering, then you will suffer right along with others. It is difficult to reach a joyful place from there.
When you see injustices and they burn you up inside, then the anger you feel is what you share with everything around you. Small children will recoil from the frequency of hate that you emit, and animals will steer clear of you.
While justified in your outrage at the horrors of an unfair world, you do nothing to help move things in a new direction. You contribute to the negativity and the suffering by dwelling in it yourself.
Life has an interesting way of presenting us with the right challenges at the perfect time. If everything was smooth-sailing in every moment, there would be no growth, no progression toward realizing who you truly are.
Within suffering lies the seed of enlightenment. Within awareness of suffering lies the ability to choose a different way.
Right now there is a tendency towards greed and hoarding in society. People are focused on getting more, accumulating possessions and money and notoriety. It is a focus based on externals to the detriment of what is most important – the furthering of consciousness, the journey within.
We are tremendously intricate beings with bodies that are truly remarkable and minds that can create or destroy with ease. Our choices and how we decide to feel towards our world and each other determines what we will get back in life.
We will always get what we deserve. It often isn’t what we want, but it will provide us with the most chance for growth and the development of who we are.
Take stock of where you are. Look at the energy you are putting out into the world. Justified resentments seem so natural – you hurt me so I am going to hurt you. But how does that make you feel?
If the goal is to live a life of joy and bliss, then taking something away from someone else to achieve it goes against any possibility of achieving this goal. There is no satisfaction in making someone else have less in order for you to have more.
What do you deserve? If you are motivated by deep feelings of guilt, then when you look around, you will see an existence of lack. You don’t feel that you deserve any better.
If you look and see a life of excess, then you have decided that you need to have more than others to feel like someone yourself. You are motivated towards greed by a feeling of emptiness.
Know that you will always get what you deserve. If you are living a peaceful and joyful life, then that will be reflected in everything around you.
Circumstances come and go, but the vibration that is the strongest in you will always attach itself to what it resonates with. Change your vibration to attract what you would like to see in your life.
In the meantime, choose to be joyful. When you have to spend all of your time with yourself, there is no reason to make it an unpleasant experience.