There are two ways to exist in this world. You can choose to be pleasant or you can choose to be miserable. If you are not able to be pleasant, then you have chosen misery.
The conditioning that we received as children that enabled us to fit into society also absolved us of the ability to recognize that we have the power to choose our thoughts and our emotions. We get very good at blaming others or outside circumstances for our unhappiness.
In other words, we don’t take responsibility for who we are and how we act.
By saying things like, “Oh, that’s just the way I am” or “I’ve always been this way,” we absolve ourselves of the ability to choose a different path. We lose our strength by giving our power away in this manner.
By learning to be aware of our thoughts, we have the power to change them. By changing our thoughts, we can change our lives.
If you are unhappy with where you are in this moment, then don’t continue to accept it as your reality. Begin to see that you have options. Even if your physical freedom is limited, for instance if you are in prison or in some other place that you can’t leave, then know that you still have the freedom within to choose your thoughts and how you perceive the situation.
Even amidst great suffering you have the ability to find peace within.
Having the ability to change your thoughts will give you the power to change your outside circumstances. Everything begins in the mind, and what you see within yourself is what will manifest around you.
We literally think our existence into being. Choose better thoughts and your life will become better.
Knowing that the feeling state is all that matters is crucial to this. If you think that having something will make you happy, and you will be unhappy until that object or person materializes in your existence, you are robbing yourself of the chance to ever be happy.
When your happiness is contingent on outside forces, you have lost control and will never find what you are looking for.
Nothing comes from without; everything is manifested from within.
Happiness is not something to look for, it is something you are. The same goes for peace and blissfulness. These are inner manifestations that describe your essence. They cannot be gathered from the world; they are the world within you.
When you are able to be happy that you are alive, that you are breathing and here for another day, then whatever happens on the outside will not affect who you are at the deepest level. You will bring this happiness to every situation and it will be who you are, not just how you feel.
Dwelling in misery is selfish, and pollutes the world around you. It is self-indulgent to feel that the world or the people around you need to be a certain way before you can be happy. It is demanding that those around you bend to your will of what your idea is of how they should be.
No one deserves to be treated like this. Allow others to live their lives and focus on your own.
Be the happiness that you want to see. Live the peace that you want to feel. Find contentment in the very act of being alive, knowing that this too is a temporary condition.
We are not here for eternity. Do not allow the very essence of who you are to be decided on circumstances outside of your control.
Don’t waste your life waiting for things to be a certain way before you can be happy. You are not meant to dwell in misery.