You may have heard the old saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Did you know that when you laugh deeply and fully that in those moments every cell of your body is filled with happiness and health, unlike those times when laughter is absent from your life.
When did your sense of humor begin to disappear? Was it around the same time that “serious” attitudes started to assert themselves?
One day a lady at one of my workshops confided, “I used to be miserable all the time because I took life so seriously. My health suffered, my relationships were in ruins and I couldn’t remember the last time I had a good laugh.”
As I drove home that evening and pondered this comment, I was reminded that the absence of happiness and laughter does indeed have far reaching impact. I could not recall how often in the past I had subjected myself to bouts of self pity brought on by some circumstance or other. I have since learned the value of a smile a day, both within and without.
It is not hard to fill your inner and outer world with pleasure, the reasoning is simple, if you can be taught to judge your life then you can also teach yourself to value it. The inner smile comes when you live fully with power and awareness.
The Value Of Life
Training your mind to value life means making happiness a choice. Just the same as you choose what you are going to eat or wear during the day, you can also make choices regarding joyful living.
This does not mean that you have to isolate and protect yourself from the world in order to be at peace. It means that you find a way to accept both your strengths and weaknesses with the same love and understanding.
Then there are no more enemies to conquer and you will always be victorious. Happiness and joy are an integral part of your existence and are always with you, regardless of how cleverly your mind may conceal this fact from you.
There are two types of happiness. One comes from the pleasurable experiences of life around you, the other comes from the experience of life lived in harmony within you. One is temporary and subject to change, the other is permanent and unshakable.
Happy To Be Here
Right now, in this moment you can choose to experience your inner happiness. Start by closing your eyes and make sure that your body is comfortable. Now take three very slow and deep breaths through your nose and exhale gently out your mouth.
As you do this focus on letting go of any tension in your body with each breath out. Feel your body sinking deeper into whatever you are sitting or laying on. Continue to do this for a long as you like, moving deeper and deeper into a relaxed state. Then when you are ready open your eyes and see how you feel.
What do you notice about your mind and body? If you allowed yourself to really relax, rather than just pretending to, then your mind will quiet and your body energized. This whole process takes just a few moments, yet the benefits are enormous.
If you are truly relaxed your happiness will instantly appear as a warm,tingling feeling throughout your body. Then you are free to tap into this depthless well of joy whenever you choose.
Choose It Or Lose It
I now know from years of experience that the power of choice shapes your future and determines who we are now and what we can have, and be, in the future.
Many times people say things like, “I would like to make more money”, or “I’d like to get along better with my family”, or “I’d like to do something really worthwhile with my life.” These types of statements are not committed to action. They are merely expressing an interest.
Being interested in changing your life and being committed to changing it are two entirely different matters. One is based on hope and is basically powerless to create change in your life, while the other supplies you with the power you need to launch into your next project.
Being committed to achieving the highest quality of life you can have is a lifelong endeavor of personal satisfaction. It does not have to be hard work. That too is a choice.
The standards that you set for yourself when committing to anything you want to achieve must never falter, no matter what.
Even if you get despondent, even if you lose your job, even if your family disowns you, even if the economy crashes, even if rain or fire, wind or earth wreaks havoc upon you, never lose sight of where you are going and who you want to be when you get there.
