The Illusion of Happinessby Phil Walmsley

When I ask people what they want they invariably request that they would choose more love, more money, and more often than not they want more happiness. This led me to question, “What is happiness?

Here’s my interpretation of happiness and unhappiness.

Happiness or unhappiness is a choice. Based on what is happening in your reality, you make the choice whether to be happy or not. If life seems to be going right then you consider yourself to be in a state of happiness. If life throws a pile of muck at you then unhappiness may be your choice.

Well of course you say. It makes sense to be happy or unhappy based on what is happening around you. It would be foolish for you to be doing a jig of happiness in the middle of a death ravaging flood or earthquake. Your happiness and unhappiness emotion are at the whim of external everyday events in your world (often called life) then certainly you will be bounced around as often as the weather changes in the outside world.

If you are unhappy because it’s a rainy day then you don’t own your power.

If you are happy because it is a sunny day then you don’t own your power.

You are a victim of your environment, of your conditioning, of your choosing. Happiness and unhappiness is a temporal state. With all the events that we attract in our lives it would be impossible for anyone to be happy or unhappy all the time. This being true, how does one own their own power during times of happiness and unhappiness?

There is a place that transcends the temporal place of happiness? Can you guess what it is called?

It is the place of peace.

Being at peace comes from a place of understanding. You can be happy and be at peace. You can be unhappy and be at peace. Peace is a place where you let go of the event you see as causing you happiness or unhappiness and reach higher toward and into a place of understanding. It is a rising above, an inner knowledge, a wisdom. Instead of being caught up in the “drama? of the scene, you accept it as “IS? And “IS?is perfect. That doesn’t mean that you do not get to feel however you wish ?you do, and at the same time you rise above it and come to terms with understanding how the “drama?is moving in you and through you (and others) assisting all to move towards the spiritual truth of understanding Love.

If you can enter into a state of peace while experiencing a state of happiness or unhappiness then you have transcended the emotional drama that cause you to identify with youself based on your reality.

An example could be that if you win the lottery you could choose happiness as your emotional response. Being in the state of peace, the state of acceptance will allow you to experience this happiness combined with a higher understanding for the reason for this event. If you are financially destitute you could choose unhappiness as your emotional response.

Being in a state of peace, the state of acceptance will allow you to experience this unhappiness with a higher understanding for the reason for this event. It is a letting go of the external events and becoming focused on the higher meanings, the higher learning’s, the higher truths for what “IS?at this moment in time.

Accepting what “IS?brings about peace. This does not mean lying down and becoming a doormat to whatever influences happen to come by. It means that whatever is happening right now “IS?and accepting it for what it “IS? and then making choices to change whatever it “IS?that you choose to change. It is not about taking your happiness or unhappiness and creating more drama. It is about accepting what “IS?

Making theses changes with the highest ideal of Love that you can think of will certainly bring about life changing events and even with some of these life changing events there will those that will be seen as unhappy. However, if you return to the place of peace, the rising above, the state of acceptance, then you can once again feel your unhappiness, accept it for what it “IS?and move on with new choices.

If you experience happiness or unhappiness know that it is an illusion –and a time to go into your peace place. If you were in a place of peace all the time you would know that the dramas in your life - be theyexciting positive ones or unhappy destructive ones are nothing more than a mirror, an opportunity for you to see your reflected sense of self. It is the opportunity for you to re-choose into Love and grow spiritually.

Much if not all of our sorrow is born in the disappointment of our ambitions and the wounding of our pride. Seek not the false peace, that of the transient joy, but rather for the assurance of faith and the Love of your fellow man, and supreme joy in the spirit.

Phil


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