Happy

"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself"...(Benjamin Franklin). Everyone says they want to be happy...but what does that mean exactly? Often people feel they aren't happy when they have a tough day or go through a tough time in life but happiness is not a destination, it's a state of mind. To me, happiness is a feeling of joy in being in the moment. It's a feeling of gratitude when it appears that everything is falling apart around you. It's the bliss of laughter at watching a silly movie or the simplicity of enjoying coffee with someone special. All of those individual moments make us feel happy. Life happens, which means ups and downs come with the territory. The trick is creating a sense of balance, allowing happiness room to reside within. Often people are looking outside of themselves for happiness in things they buy, people they pursue or in money and other superficial temporary fillers. They may attain those things but then realize that they didn't catch happiness in attaining any of those things. Some get frustrated and then keep chasing more people or things. Happiness seems to allude them like how Bugs Bunny always managed to get away from Elmer Fudd. The way to find happiness is to look within and to observe and clear your hidden barriers keeping you from embracing something that has always been right there all along. Happiness was never trying to hide or get away, it was waiting for you to take notice and allow it to flourish within. Here are some quotes about happiness. "Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it"...(Jacques Prévert). "Happiness is never stopping to think if you are"...(Palmer Sondreal). "Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy"....(Robert Anthony). "The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up"...(Mark Twain). "Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it"...(Groucho Marx). So, if you are struggling with finding happiness, remember it is really already there within you and you just have to choose it. In embracing happiness, you may notice that fears may creep in occasionally, tempting you to revert back to old patterns of pain and struggle. Don't be fooled by Bugs Bunny trying to tempt you to run after him again. Bugs Bunny is just a "silly old Rabbit" and an illusion testing you, to see if you are grounded in the fact that you can stop chasing. Just be happy and allow the beauty of life to fill you each and every day in embracing the gift of being alive. "If you want to be happy, be"...(Leo Tolstoy).