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Happiness Now

Happiness is not dependent upon objective situations or circumstances but on how we perceive them. Happiness is a state of being conscious of the essential goodness and beauty of a reality. If we are in that state and respond to any situation from that state, we are happy.

We can only perceive the true nature of something if we are fully present to it. So often we are somewhere else other than where our bodies are. We are either recalling something from the past or are imagining some possible future. In both cases we are creating the reality of our experience. When we recall the past we automatically edit it so that we can either feel good or justify some attitude we have. In this case we are not being objective at all and therefore cannot experience the thing or situation or person as they are, but as we want them to be.

When we are imagining a possible future we fantasize what we want to experience. There is nothing wrong with that. But if it is at the expense of ignoring the present we might be trying to escape what we need to experience here and now.

The present moment always holds the greatest potential for happiness because that is where soul is making its presence felt. It is this presence which enables us to increase our sensitivity to the real, to deepen our compassion, understanding and tolerance – characteristics of genuine happiness. And most often it is the so-called negative in the present that enables us to expand our consciousness in these ways.

If we stay with the negative present we are forced into our depths where soul is and therefore where power, understanding and love are available to us. If we escape from the present with our minds and emotions then we typically imagine the worst. Our avoidance of the negative creates fears that feed our fantasies of a future we don’t want. We then become victims of our own fears.

Sometimes the negativity in the present is presented as fact. It might be a doctor’s diagnosis or a financial statement. Whatever the so-called facts seem to be they are always a product of someone else’s views, perceptions, beliefs, agendas, etc. Facts are one-dimensional realities. They have no meaning other than what we choose to give them. It is this interpretation that we must make our own, and not accept others’ interpretations that do not fit into our own perceptions of what is important in life.

The present moment can never be re-lived or re-captured. We cannot even recall it as it was because if we are not fully present in it our recall will be largely edited in our imagination. We then increasingly live in a fantasized life rather than our own life that is unfolding from within. The fantasies might give us some immediate pleasure, but it is then impossible to expand consciousness and to deepen our connection to the source of true happiness within ourselves because we do not connect with the essential goodness and beauty that are the cause of happiness.

 

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This is one of 150 Soul Perspective articles. For more articles visit Soul Perspectives Index.

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