Is there really happiness over the rainbow?

What’s so special about that place over the rainbow? What’s so wrong with Kansas? Is Glenda, the Good Witch really any more special than Auntie Em’?
Are the scarecrow and the tin man any better than the farm hands whom so adoringly care for Dorothy?
Or are they only so in our own minds? Does Kansas really only exist in black and white?
My argument is that Kansas exists in vivid, screaming, cannon blasted color! But we suffer from self-inflicted color blindness.
What is wrong with our lives? Why are we always so unhappy? Why is it that we always have these great plans, which at the last minute just seem to fall apart or come up just short of our expectations?
Why do we have such high hopes for a budding relationship then ultimately that “person” turns out to have major “issues” we can’t deal with?
Why do we have big career plans or look to a promotion or this or that and we always find a way to come up well short of happy , content and well paid?
Why does this happen to me over and Over and over? Just like a merry go round, the hopes and inevitable dis appointment are as predictable as the fall following the summer which followed the promise of spring.
Why are we always waiting for that next best thing to finally have something to be grateful for?
Why are we over weight? Why do I have a partner who ignores me or doesn’t treat me right? How come I never have enough money? Why is my health poor? Why do I have diabetes? Or even Cancer?
Why can’t GOD or someone, anyone ,do something to make me HAPPY?
Are you relating to this? Is this you?
In some regards this used to be me too. I am 46 years old and the majority of my life I lived with one foot stepped into the future and one foot solidly planted in the past. I rarely took the time to look into the nature of my current surrounding long enough to find the positive things around me.
I tried to exist in an unfocused and uncertain future that lacked true purpose, while clinging to negative perceptions of the past and while cursing my current situation, relationships. Never in the moment of which I found myself.
The truth is I was in negative situations in my past, but it wasn’t the fault of my partner or my children or family or in- laws or bosses. It was my fault and my fault alone.
I was primarily a highly critical and negative person in certainareas. I found fault in many more things than I found things to be grateful for. I tried to control my present state in order to abate fear of the unknown. I did so with the false belief that that type of control brings the proper outcome...it doesn’t.
The reason it was my fault is this;,( and this is the same reason your current situation is completely your own fault….and NOT the fault of anybody else).
I brought the negative people into my life. That was a choice. That was because that’s how I felt about myself. Were people or circumstances around me detrimental to me beyond my control? Yes. Was it my choice to be in those situations and with those people or in that job or that house? Yes.
Was it at one point, (when my finances were ruined do to a very bad divorce) the fault of the people who actively worked to put me there? Or was it ultimately my responsibility because of the choices I made to make myself financially vulnerable?
It was in my decisions and my decisions alone that I had to fight off bankruptcy for several years.
Its fault and my fault alone that I chose bad romantic partners. People are who they are. We choose whether or not to be associated with people that are either a help or a hindrance to us.
Enough…. You get the point.
Can you be blissfully happy? Can you be better off financially? Can you be in great situation, someday ? Yes.
When? You ask?
Now. It starts now, or it starts never. We only have now.
Sit down, take a deep breath and take a slow look around you. Smile. Realize that everything is exactly as it should be this moment. This moment is perfect. It is also ready to give birth to the next perfect moment.
Do this exercise for every current situation in your life right now.
The simple truth is this, we can’t be happy anywhere else, not truly and permanently, until we learn how to be happy. Right here. Right now.
We must take that step of faith and turn our negative attachments to gratitude in every area of our life that we seek improvement in.
When we can do this, the flood gates will open. We will start to bring in the right people. We start to make better financial decisions. We will make progress in our careers. Everything can change.

And the best thing is that we will be happy every step of the way. That doesn’t mean we give up seeking improvements. It just means that life works easier!
It does, I promise!
Take it from someone who knows.
I now am surrounded by wonderful people. I have a fantastic, understanding , caring and perfect life mate. I am surrounded by loving children and parent. I am only surrounded with successful business people and my career is only on the upswing. Life is good.
Oh, and by the way I also have stage four cancer in my head.
??? Yes. It’s not ideal, but I’m grateful for it. It is giving me opportunities to grow and do good for others.
This doesn’t mean I don’t have challenges. It doesn’t I don’t have difficult people in my life who may still actively try to disrupt any bliss in my life.
It doesn’t mean I don’t have challenges as a parent or at work etc.
It just means that everything is fine and as it should be.
It is already this way for you too.
The color is the same here as it is on the other side of the rainbow.
We need to make a choice then, to make a stand for our own happiness.
What is the reason we are always feeling let down? Maybe its because we keep trying to change our situation the same old way. The wrong way? Maybe the only thing that needs to be changed is yourself?
It’s funny that life will keep putting us in the same situations, over and over until we decide to change, on the inside.
We can’t change others and we aren’t really responsible for them or their actions. We are only responsible for our continued associations. Not how anybody feels or acts.
If you don’t like your job, change the effort you are putting in, find a new way to do things or find a new job.
If you don’t like your finances, drastically change your spending paradigms, get a second job. Sever associations with people who use or feed off you etc.
If you don’t like your spouse, change the way you behave and see if things don’t improve. If you have truly attracted a very poor, negative choice in a partner, then maybe it’s time to make a change.
As you grow, not everyone can grow with you and we need to be ok with that.
Happiness starts now. Happiness is now.
We don’t need a tornado…. We just need to close our eyes to see all the good things around us.

Author's Bio: 

James Maioho is an Advisor, Coach and Author, who resides in West Michigan.
As a graduate of Aquinas College and the Musician’s Institute, James has worked with hundreds of people and businesses. He is heavily involved in the local community and a champion for small and Minority business and individual improvement. His is a story of overcoming financial ruin, personal tragedies and an unhappy lifestyle. You can overcome anything by following the simple steps he can show you and live a happy and fulfilled life every day. Author of “Winners Give Up!” , A New Year To A New You" and principal at James J. Maioho Advisors, www. jamesmaioho.com