Everything Is Good: A Simple Perspective To Happiness
Have you ever been so sure about something, only to find out you’re wrong? That happened to me the other day, and now my whole life has changed.
Welcome back to The Beginner’s Mind Blog, as we seek together to understand the basics of abundance.
Last Friday I spoke with a close friend on the phone about some of the challenges I was experiencing.
“Joe, I believe that the Universe has lessons I must learn, and until I learn them, I’ll keep having these situations show up in my life.”
“John,” he said gently, “I disagree.”
Joe is my Law of Attraction buddy. He’s in his mid-thirties, fit with neatly trimmed facial hair, a tiny bit gray, just enough to make him look wise but still young. Proficient in the art of allowing, Joe is on fire in life.
“What you’re saying sounds punitive,” he continued, “like it’s some kind of punishment. The truth is that everything is good.”
What Joe said got my attention, and it wasn’t the idea that everything is good. It was the statement “I disagree.”
Most people simply agree with what I say, and I, too, tend to agree with what others say. I’m indifferent. I shy away from conflict. And I’m usually waiting for my chance to speak.
With honesty as his guide, Joe encouraged me to look at the positive aspects of every undesirable experience — to practice gratitude for everything. Then I would see that everything really is good.
That day, I decided to do just that. I committed to finding the good in every seeming negative situation. Right away I was confronted with one.
I live in New York City, and I was on a subway, running late to meet a friend. It was moving slowly. I don’t like being late, and I felt disturbed. But I immediately put my new gratitude practice into action.
Being late is so good, I told myself. It helps me let go of being perfect. Being late gives me extra time to have fun on the subway. Being on the subway itself is such a gift. It represents the culmination of a dream — the dream to move to Manhattan.
Being late gives my friend extra time. It’s a great chance to listen to music. It causes me to do this — to practice gratitude. It teaches me patience. I’m not even late — I’m arriving exactly when I am supposed to!
In a couple of minutes, by looking at the positive aspects of what I considered negative, I completely shifted my perception and began feeling great. And you know what? When I arrived to meet my friend, he was on the phone with his doctor’s office, so he did need the extra time!
I now know that there’s nothing we have to get through or learn before we can experience happiness and joy.
As Joe suggested, I should choose to live like a little kid, playing endlessly with my friends, without a care in the world, knowing that mom will call me in when dinner’s ready. Because when we are playing, we forget all about being hungry.
He’s right. When I am having fun, I don’t have problems. I’m present. I’m happy. And I’m moving toward greater happiness without even trying.
Wayne Dyer, bless his spirit, said it perfectly. “There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way.”
Life, after all, is a journey to enjoy.
Let’s make the journey home, home.
Bless you,
John
If you would like to receive our once-a-week offering, The Beginner’s Mind Blog, sign up HERE.
