Finding Happiness
Finding Happiness by Alan Tutt http://www.KeysToPower.com
Happiness is a choice.
This may come as a bold statement for many, yet it is the
absolute truth. In almost any situation we find ourselves, we
can choose to be happy if we want to. Obviously, this is more
difficult to do in some situations than in others. For example,
if we are in physical pain, it's very difficult to focus our
minds on happiness. And when we are experiencing something
pleasurable, happiness almost comes on it's own.
In our modern world, we rarely experience physical pain. Most of
the situations we find ourselves unhappy in are simply
situations that don't meet our expectations. A friend who
betrays our trust, a life partner that is dishonest or
unfaithful, a boss that is difficult and demanding. These are
the types of situations that we can choose to be happy in if we
set our mental focus properly.
But how do we find happiness in the midst of these situations?
Or, on a more basic level, how do we control our emotions to be
what we want them to be? And an even more basic question, why
would we want to?
Let's start with the most basic question, why would we want to
control our emotions and make them be something other than those
expected?
One of the core principles in the Keys To Power system (and many
New Thought systems) is that the Power of Spirit is directed by
the thoughts and feelings within us to create our experiences.
This means that when we're thinking and feeling happy thoughts,
Power will be directed to create happy experiences. When we
think and feel unhappy thoughts, Power is directed to create
unhappy experiences. This 'Law of Power' works just as surely
and accurately as any other natural Law, such as gravity.
Most people understand the basic concepts here, so I won't go
into detail here. If you need more detail, read through some of
the ebooks in the Download section of this site. What
continually amazes me, however, is the number of people who will
agree with the concepts just mentioned, yet will do nothing to
implement them into their lives!
But maybe that is because they don't really know how. Which gets
us to the next question, how do we control our emotions to be
what we want them to be?
To get to the answer to that question, we need to understand how
the emotions work. Not an easy task, and a full description
would take far too much time and space to include here. But in
essence, the emotions react to mental stimulus. This means that
the combination of our thoughts, beliefs, mental images, and
perceptions of the world around us work together to create our
emotions.
The sight of a mountain can arouse feelings of pride in one
person, and feelings of failure in another. Obviously, the sight
of the mountain itself did not create the feelings, or everyone
would feel the same way about seeing a mountain. Hearing that
the stock market dropped 500 points will make one person feel
like the end of the world is at hand, yet make someone else feel
that a grand opportunity has arrived. And on a more personal
level, finding out that your spouse has engaged in extramarital
affairs can be either a blessing or a curse to the relationship,
depending on how you look at it.
So, to control our emotions, we need to control the mental
stimulus that creates those emotions.
One of the most basic (and most effective) mental stimulus is
the judgment that we place on the interpretation of each event.
When we judge an event to be bad, our emotional reaction is
negative and unhappiness results. If we judge an event to be
good, then happiness is much more likely. In many motivational
programs, you will find the instruction to label all experiences
as good, and then to search for the goodness in the experience.
If you lose your job, claim "this is good" and then go about
looking for the good in losing your job. It's usually the
opportunity to find a better means of employment.
In other situations, the goodness of the situation is harder to
find. For example, someone lies to you and causes you to lose
your trust in them. What good is there in that? Maybe it's an
indication that your trust is misplaced and you need to focus
elsewhere for truth. Maybe it's an indication that you've
allowed an experience to be created (from previous usages of
Power) that you don't like. In this case, it's an indication
that you need to refocus your mind to create what you do want,
and not what you don't want.
And this is the central message here. Your thoughts and feelings
are directing Power to create your life experiences. Think about
the possibility of dishonesty, or allow yourself to feel that
dishonesty is a possibility, and you sow the seeds for a
dishonest experience.
I know what you're probably thinking - "People lie and cheat all
the time. How can I possibly NOT think or feel that dishonesty
is a possibility? It's more than a possibility, it's real!" This
is where the principles of the Keys To Power get the most
difficult to implement in real life. All I can say is that if
you can convince yourself that you will never experience
dishonesty, then you won't. I'm not saying that it's easy to do,
I'm just relaying the principles.
Now let's get to our first question, how can we find happiness
in the midst of unhappy experiences?
Whatever the situation, we need to focus our mind on happy
things. Maybe we start to think about other situations other
than the one we are currently in. Think about a time when you
were tremendously happy. Relive the experience in your mind.
Pretend that you are having the same experience right now. Or
maybe it's better to think about how you would like the current
situation to end. Imagine that the situation is completely
transformed and becomes what you want it to become. Or maybe you
only need to focus on the concept that everything will be okay,
whether you know how it will end or not.
There's a story that I like to remember from time to time. There
was once a farmer living on a plot of land with his family. This
farmer had 2 horses to help him farm his land. And if he worked
with those 2 horses from sun up to sun down, he barely made
enough to support his family. One day, one of the horses ran
away. The farmer's neighbor, once he found out about it, said
"That's terrible. Now you won't have what you need to support
your family. You'll surely starve to death." The farmer replied
"Maybe, maybe not."
The next day, the horse that ran away came back, and brought 2
other horses with it. The farmer's neighbor happened to be
there, and exclaimed jubilantly "This is wonderful! Now you'll
be able to earn much more, and you and your family will live in
luxury!" Again, the farmer's response was "Maybe, maybe not."
A few days later, one of the farmer's sons tried to tame one of
the wild horses. The horse threw the young boy. When the boy
fell, one of his legs was broken. Again the farmer's neighbor
said "That's terrible!" and again the farmer replied "Maybe,
maybe not."
About a week later, the local militia came around recruiting all
available young men. Because the farmer's son's leg was broken,
they passed by without taking him. Again the farmer's neighbor
said "That's great!" and again the farmer replied "Maybe, maybe
not."
The basic lesson in this story (which could go on forever), is
that you never really know what will happen because of the
current event. Even if the situation now is "terrible", it may
be necessary to get to a situation that's "Great!"