I have found that the authentic life is a simple life; that awakening into deeper truth, authenticity and simplicity is more about dropping things than it is about gaining them. The desire to connect even more, from this deepest, most authentic part of my heart is what has emerged over the last year. It comes with a high price and yet no price at all, because the letting go while at first glance seems painful, is in reality the letting go of pain. The price that appears so high in the beginning, cannot compare to the value of what is received or restored.
My attempts to explain my experience are summed up best by one of my favorite authors, Anthony de Mello from his book on Awareness… take a look at what he says here about Happiness:
“Do you want to be happy? Uninterrupted happiness is uncaused. True happiness is uncaused. You cannot make me happy. You are not my happiness. You say to the awakened person, “Why are you happy”? and the awakened person replies, “Why not”? Happiness is our natural state. Happiness is the natural state of little children, to whom the kingdom belongs until they have been polluted and contaminated by the stupidity of society and culture. To acquire happiness you don’t have to do anything, because happiness cannot be acquired. Does anybody know why?
Because we have it already. How can you acquire what you already have? Then why don’t you experience it? Because you’ve got to drop something. You’ve got to drop illusions. You don’t have to add anything in order to be happy; you’ve got to drop something. Life is easy, life is delightful. It’s only hard on your illusions, your ambitions, your greed, your cravings. Do you know where these things come from? From having identified with all kinds of labels!“
What labels do you have in your life that are not contributing to your happiness? They could be a certain outlook, expectation, assumption, habit, any number of things. The bottom line is, by dropping this dead weight, happiness emerges. And nothing is more inspiring or contagious than happiness!
In my intuitive mentorship programs, I stress the importance of the ABC’s of Intuition; become AWARE of the inner wisdom inside, BREATHE it in, and CONNECT to the heart… the same is true of happiness because it’s already here… the power of imagination and enthusiasm expands it even more. So when something challenging or difficult comes up, I encourage the habit of asking the question “What would happiness do in this moment?” It’s a brilliant question because it aligns with creativity and possibility rather than any avoidance or overwhelm that may be lurking below the surface of our awareness.
The quest for happiness will always be found in the present moment, the only point of power there is.
