Ah happiness! That easy feeling we all seek. Sometimes desperately… The opposite of sadness, happiness is an emotion, not really the state of being our culture advertises.
We have been encouraged to believe we must be happy at all times, to be otherwise is somehow a failing to ourselves, our families, our communities. This my friends is an unrealistic expectation. We are thinking and feeling beings. Our bodies and souls are energetically charged with the memories of our ancestors, our choices, our DNA and genetic footprints. Our subtle bodies are affected by the energy of the Earth, the Cosmos and the vast amount of energy from others. Think of your body like a sponge; your emotions like water, the sponge can soak up a great deal of water. Once saturated to capacity it becomes heavy and sodden, it needs to be picked up and wrung out.
The many spills of our lives need constant mopping. Over and over again our sponge absorbs the water of emotions. Over and over we must get wrung out. Its in the wringing where we build strength and resiliency. When we become heavy and sodden and feel as thou we simply cannot hold anymore that is when we must take action and squeeze out our emotions authentically. This is different for each of us and changes according to what we have absorbed.
Accepting this cycle and taking a part in the process can bring the feeling of happiness. Honor the rhythms and emotions in your life, they give you information and provide the framework for growth.
For what more is happiness but a feeling? Often fleeting, always easy, joyful, and filled with a sense of love for self and others. Happiness is an emotion and a valuable one. We can give ourselves permission to feel it whenever we want. Sometimes this is nearly impossible. We are challenged by grief, pain, trauma, fear. The dark shadow of depression is seductive at times.
The body however does remember the feeling of happiness. When overwhelmed by the shadows take a moment to recall a time when happiness was present. Feel where it anchors in your body, thank the feeling and embrace it, for it is part of your energetic truth.
So soak it all in! Wring it out when needed. Accept this as a process a never-ending cycle. Remind yourself to feel happy again and be grateful