Happiness

“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.”
~Carlos Castaneda~
Happiness is a choice. So is misery. Each of us is responsible for our own joy; therefore, change begins with consciously changing our thoughts – choosing happiness again and again until it becomes our natural response to daily events. All transformation comes from within.
Life will provide ample opportunities to practice acceptance, forgiveness and compassion. The process of growth is both deeply personal and collective. Your unique journey is one of learning mastery and those who grace your life play the roles required for your awakening.
When you choose thoughts that create empowerment and peacefulness, nothing has the power to take your happiness away. Even in the midst of tremendous challenge, there will be a groundedness of spirit that is unshakable.
In the present moment, can you choose to surrender to what is? That is the foundation of genuine happiness. Make this a daily practice of walking meditation as you go deeper into your own expression of joy. Open yourself to the experience of life without judging or trying to control. This is the art of contentment.

Personal Responsibility

Blame is often used as a tool of avoidance and solidifies victim consciousness. We project energy at another person, situation or idea to distract ourselves from looking within. Since the world is our reflection, circumstances will often arise to provide an opportunity for us to recognize what we’ve spend a lifetime trying to avoid. It’s important to remember that the core of life’s practice is awakening. We can only reach that state by stepping into personal responsibility.

Empowerment requires that we face our fears. Until we do so, they will block our ability to love. Personal responsibility operates through several different levels of experience. It brings mindfulness to the way you choose to respond to the present moment and a heightened awareness of your self-talk. It allows you to walk through life with the understanding that every situation and person has something to teach – and because you operate from that mindset, you accelerate your own awakening.

Once we take responsibility for our own state of consciousness, we begin to realize that what we have considered to be “reality” is merely a reflection of how we see the world, what we expect, what we believe, or what we fear. When we choose to surrender to a situation, stop trying to force those around us to change and go within for the answers, we begin to heal.

The Power of Change

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
~Joseph Campbell~

If you want to change something, you must first love it with all your heart. Whether you wish to break free of a restrictive habit or embrace freedom through intense personal change, seek to harness the power of acceptance and surrender as integral aspects of your transformation.

When a particular aspect has been in play in your life, it’s helpful to honor it as a teacher and as an awakener. Rather than hating the cause of your discomfort, find a way to bring it into the light. Your compassion releases energetic patterns that are no longer required as part of your spiritual work. And thus, the change you create is powerful, immediate and complete.

Resistance or hatred can lock energy in place and allow it to poison your experience. Conversely, conscious love is transformative. When you can speak of your past without intense emotion, it is an indicator that you have faced and overcome your shadows. Rather than something to avoid or keep hidden, the history of your journey becomes a foundation of wisdom and insight.

Seeds of Kindness

“Everything under heaven is a sacred vessel and cannot be controlled. Trying to control leads to ruin. Trying to grasp, we lose. Allow your life to unfold naturally. Know that it too is a vessel of perfection.”
~Lao-tzu~

When we begin to view life in its sacred perfection, it changes the energy we bring to our experience. Rather than attempting to force events and people to accommodate our timetable and desires, we seek instead to nurture the seeds we have planted and give them the time they need to flourish.The thoughts and actions of today are creating the reality of tomorrow. Give up needing to control with the knowledge that all will unfold in the perfect way at the perfect time. Tend your garden with love. Remove the weeds of fear and doubt as they arise so they don’t steal vital energy and nutrients from the seeds you have planted.

Surrender is a mental process. We must release the need to judge and become loving witnesses of our life experience. Practice this by choosing an area of your life where you typically feel the need to control. Purposely choose to surrender today and notice how strongly the ego reacts. Keep a healthy inner dialogue and bring yourself back to peace and balance as often as required. To live in harmony with life is to allow it to unfold without interference.

Transformation

We are in the process of breaking free from limiting patterns. Do not resist the transformation that is at hand. Empowered surrender calls upon us to trust the processes of our awakening and enter the realm of harmony, awareness and compassion.

To transcend duality means to rise above seemingly opposite energies. Rather than getting caught in the polarities, we seek instead to see everything as an aspect of love. This conscious viewpoint releases us from the emotional cacophony of drama.

You are an integral part of our collective transformation. Light and dark are inseparable and Oneness is learned through contrast. Utilize the symbolism of the yin/yang symbol, the snake shedding its skin, the lotus flower emerging from the muck… all teach through acceptance, the deep letting go of attachment, finding the balance within interconnected energies.

Move with the spirit of adventure through any darkness you face knowing that you will ultimately emerge into the light of awareness. Understand deeply that the presence of the ego becomes more acute when one is on the verge of profound transformation. With this in mind, consciously choose to see through its mechanisms with an open heart and become an active participant in your own awakening.

Surrender

“When we bring a gentle awareness to the layers of our conditioning, and to the struggles that arise out of our conditioning, the power of that conditioning slowly dissolves. Life then moves toward the unconditioned – where the vastness, or love, just flows through.”    

~Ezra Bayda~

The ego often seeks to fight, prove oneself right, defend beliefs or struggle against life. Whenever you observe this happening, consciously move into surrender. Allow the energy around you to flow unimpeded. You’ll access the strength and peace that reside underneath the mechanisms of the mind.

When we choose to surrender to what is, we demonstrate faith in the process of awakening. Things often flow better when we get ourselves out of the way. The enlightened understand that surrender is a sign of empowerment.

Trust the wisdom of your higher self. Place your focus upon how you are responding to life, rather than trying to control how it unfolds. Are you operating from a space of joy, enthusiasm or acceptance? Are you seeing your experiences as opportunities to awaken?

The present moment is your point of power. How are you choosing to experience it? Life’s wonder and mystery can only be discovered where you are.

Facing Challenges Consciously

“Every challenge takes you a little deeper and awakens you again and again. Without the challenges, you probably would go to back to sleep. The challenges keep you awake.”
~Eckhart Tolle~

Think about all that you’ve learned so far on your spiritual journey – the tools of awakening tried and sometimes discarded, the basis of how you view your life, the facets of strength you have discovered as a result of facing challenges, the wisdom of surrender and acceptance, the power of gratitude.

What about those moments when gratitude seems far away? Sometimes we walk in darkness with the belief that all the tools we have cultivated have either deserted us or no longer work with the strength they once did. But something is different this time around…. we’re conscious of the fact that we are suffering. We actively apply what we’ve learned or seek new ways to address whatever challenge arises with the knowledge that we’ll find a way to grow through the process.

That’s the difference between someone who has experienced awakening and someone who has yet to access the knowledge that lies underneath the drama. The conscious approach becomes something of a dance with the Divine, a tango of immense passion filled with talent, surrender and synchronicity. Lifetime after lifetime we perfect this dance. Spiritual awakening is a process of constant practice and application.

Conscious Surrender

“We are at our most powerful the moment we no longer need to be powerful.”
~Eric Micha’el Leventhal~
The awakening spirit becomes empowered through surrender. Rather than trying to force life to meet our perception of perfection, we seek to see the perfection in life as it is. As human beings, our view is narrow – typically focused on ego-driven desire and based upon our immediate life experience. We cannot see the threads of life as they are woven together to create the tapestry of creation. The hand of the Divine is always at work in ways that we cannot imagine with our limited perception.
And yet, often there is an aspect to our belief system that prompts us to attempt to control, plan for every contingency or need assurance prior to taking action. Spiritual mastery involves conscious surrender to what is. As you cultivate worthiness and self-esteem, it becomes less important to be seen as right. Inner humility guides us, love becomes the expression of our joy and what you need to know will make itself known at the perfect time. Trust the processes of your awakening.