Shortcuts to Happiness: Part xii

During most of my adult life I saw the world in a state of doom and gloom. Of course that had an effect on me as a functioning human being. I was consumed by my gloom, pessimism & ‘tragedies’ to be able to learn from my mistakes, so I kept repeating them until life became almost unbearable. I wasn’t in the flow of life….. the ebb & flow of the universe, like the great seas with endless motion of tides, the rhythms of the seasons, similarly, women in the same household will report that their monthly cycles occur simultaneously as if their internal body rhythms were synchronized. Clockmakers have noted that pendulum clocks on a wall in close proximity will subtly alter their rhythms and start ticking in unison. Scientists have found that two heart cells taken from two separate creatures when placed next to each other under a microscope will synchronize & start beating together. Have you ever heard someone saying how they’re just not “in-synch” with the day because ‘everything’ is going wrong!

Then something happened to alter my thinking and I made the decision to open myself to the possibility that all we encounter does have possibilities and opportunities for joy and for learning, that we can make all circumstances useful for our spiritual growth. Certainly a universe in which this possibility exists is “user friendly.” It might, in fact be even more friendly than we could have ever imagined. If we are our own belief makers, we can create any vision of the universe that we want and accumulate evidence to support it. In choosing the happiness option and the attitudinal changes and advantages that flow from it we open a window to a whole new world.

In my life, I have chosen the user friendly perspective including a belief & faith in a happy and loving G-d trying to help me to be happy and loving. My early training had brought me to a belief in a punishing, pain & suffering perspective of G-d and although I can say that I have learned from pain, I have grown so much more from happiness. I recognize that my increased inner ease, self acceptance and happiness that allowed me a profound spiritual change was not available in the midst of desperation and discomfort.