A lady came to me with a hurt wrist. She was amazed at the instantaneous healing that took place. Called it a miracle that her wrist— which had hurt for months—no longer hurt. Three days later she called and said, “I thought you healed my wrist. Here it is only three days later, and it hurts again. You didn’t do a very good job. Now what do you have to say about that?”
I answered her by asking, “Why did you take the pain back?” Happiness is the same.
You want to be happy? Then why do you keep taking the unhappiness back? You are the one who is responsible for that, not the other one you keep blaming. Tough to hear, but to be happy you must stop taking back the unhappiness. So how do you do this?
Think of unhappiness as a groove worn into your brain from a constant flow of unhappy thoughts like a creek worn from water erosion. As humans we tend to like—and return too—the familiar, even if that which is familiar is painful. By now, you may have a Grand Canyon of unhappiness pattern that you will fall back into without even realizing it. The good news is that once you stop digging the unhappiness groove deeper and create a new pattern of happiness then happiness becomes the familiar groove and is easier to access and fall into.
Try This: Become the high witness to your life and become aware of what you are creating for yourself in your life. This process takes dedication that comes from your desire to be happy. No one can give you the desire to be happy except you. Happiness, like most things in life, comes to us as we seek it out. We have to do the work to find it.
On a sheet of notebook paper, begin to write down a reason you have to be happy. If you can’t find a reason to be happy, start with a reason to be grateful. (If you are so unhappy you can’t find a reason to be grateful, your addiction to unhappiness is greater than your desire to be happy. Please seek help from a professional therapist. These are spiritual processes that work on the human psyche. They only work if you are able and ready to do the work.)
Once you have completed the first reason you have to be happy, continue on to a second reason that you have to be happy. When any reason for unhappiness comes to mind—and they will—turn the paper over and write down that reason, and then immediately turn the paper over again and continue writing down reasons why you are—or should be—happy.
You will notice that as you begin this process you may not particularly feel happy about any of the reasons you’ve written down. But they are reasons you can be happy. You may take these reasons for granted and not feel happiness from them. As you continue to write, you will notice a lifting of your mood. Keep writing until you actually feel light, happy, and maybe even positively giddy.