“I have been through some terrible things in my life – some of which actually happened.” ~ Mark Twain

Urgh, do you have to constantly remind yourself to stay in this moment and not play those incessant tapes in your head, worrying about what might happen? Have you caught yourself creating an entire academy award winning movie production on what terrible things might happen?

Yesterday a dear friend sent me a message in response to a problem I shared with her. Her advice?  “Stay in your flow, and everything will unfold perfectly.”

Staying in the flow means not paddling upstream against the current.

Does it feel right? If it does, do it. Feel good about what is happening in this very moment. If it doesn’t feel good, change the channel and get into a “feeling good” place. Then trust your intuition.

Some experts feel there really are only two emotions – love and fear. Worrying about the future is all fear-based.

Og Mandino teaches, “I will greet this day with love in my heart.” If you read further into his work, you will see that he greets each person, place, thing, and situation with love in his heart. That is staying in the moment.

Marilyn Banks, www.PathsThatCross.com, teaches: “Every illness, disease, ache and pain in our physical body has a negative attitude or emotion attached to it. It is through our formed belief systems, that our thinking and feeling bodies speak for the Spirit, and are the clout that create the physical, emotional, and even the material, circumstances of our lives.”

The bottom line? Creating those fear-based movies in your head plucks you right out of the flow – and plops your emotional and physical body into negative chaos.

What were you thinking about just prior to reading today’s message? Was it fear-based, or was it covered in love?

If not love, change the channel. Carry an imaginary remote in your pocket today. Be prepared to change the channel as many times as necessary throughout your day.

“Stay in your flow, and everything will unfold perfectly.”

What a gift to stumble upon this video: http://www.lawofattractioninteraction.com/video/GetHappy. Copy and paste this address in your browser. Click on “Video Clips” then “Be Happy.”

It could very likely be the best 3 minutes and 52 seconds you have ever spent. I have decided to watch the video clip once a day until I internalize the message.

Esther and Jerry Hicks share, “We wanted to point you toward one of the best-feeling video clips that we have experienced, so far.  It was created by Vickie Barnes. She goes by ImVickieB on YouTube. We loved it!”

Enjoy and be happy! Have a fabulous weekend!  :  )

“What Would It Take to Make You Happy?” was the article in my inbox in the oprah.com newsletter that caught my attention this morning.

Do you feel happy? If you do not, you are not alone. It seems the longing for happiness is commonplace among us.

The author of the article commented that she called Dr. Phil and asked, “How do you figure out specifically what you want in life?”

“You must ask yourself a series of four questions,” he replied. They are:

1)      What do I want?

2)      What must I do to have it?

3)      How would I feel when I have it?

4)      So, what I really want is to feel ___ (fill in the blank)?

Dr. Phil gave an example of a woman he interviewed. He would ask the questions and keep peeling down till he got to the real root of her desire. Perhaps you can take a pen and paper and flush out your true desires by journaling.

Another article contained a series of happiness quotes. I thought you might like to contemplate on some of them…

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” ~ Aristotle

“The only joy in the world is to begin.” ~ Cesare Pavese

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.” ~ Jaques Prevert

“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.” ~ Iris Murdoch

“It is only possible to live happily ever after on a daily basis.” ~ Margaret Bonanno

“Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life.” ~  Marcus Aurelius

“I wake up every morning with a great desire to live joyfully.” ~ Anna Howard Shaw

The article went on to share a few words of wisdom from Thich Nhat Hanh:

“Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice… No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out.”

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

“Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive—that you can touch the miracle of being alive—then that is a kind of enlightenment.”

“Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.”

“It is possible to live happily in the here and now. So many conditions of happiness are available—more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don’t have to run into the future in order to get more.”

“People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don’t suffer anymore.”

“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.”

“Life is available only in the present. That is why we should walk in such a way that every step can bring us to the here and the now.”

“When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?”

“To be loved means to be recognized as existing.”

“Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.”

“We have to continue to learn. We have to be open. And we have to be ready to release our knowledge in order to come to a higher understanding of reality.”

All this talk of happiness prompted me to look up the words to the song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin. Why not hum a few bars and turn this day into the wonderful miracle that it is?  :  )

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Here is a little song I wrote.
You might want to sing it note for note.
Don’t worry, be happy.
In every life, we have some trouble.
When you worry, you make it double.
Don’t worry, be happy……

Ain’t got no place to lay your head?
Somebody came and took your bed?
Don’t worry, be happy.
The landlord say your rent is late?
He may have to litigate?
Don’t worry, be happy .
Look at me, I am happy.
Don’t worry, be happy.
Here I give you my phone number.
When you worry, call me.
I make you happy.
Don’t worry, be happy.
Ain’t got no cash, ain’t got no style?
Ain’t got no girl to make you smile?
But don’t worry, be happy.
Cause when you worry
Your face will frown,
And that will bring everybody down.
So don’t worry, be happy (now)…..

There is this little song I wrote.
I hope you learn it note for note.
Like good little children,
Don’t worry, be happy.
Listen to what I say.
In your life expect some trouble,
But when you worry,
You make it double.
Don’t worry, be happy……
Don’t worry, don’t do it, be happy.
Put a smile on your face.
Don’t bring everybody down like this.
Don’t worry, it will soon pass,
Whatever it is.
Don’t worry, be happy.

Last night I laid out my plans for today. By golly, I was determined that it would be a productive day. I simply have lots to get accomplished, and today was going to be it.

The plan: get up at 5:10 am, go to 5:30 Jazzercise, eat a healthy breakfast, and then get going!

Why then do these voices in my head talk to me about my friend’s assessment of me, “You are always in such a frenzy. You don’t allow. You don’t allow things to happen.”

And why do these voices in my head remind me of last week’s message from www.tut.com?

“Rosie, I think you’re amazing. I think your approach to life is dead-on. And I can’t think of anything you’ve ever done that I wouldn’t have done had I been in your shoes.

Hey, it’s my life too.

Tallyho,
The Universe

Yeah, Rosie, nothing you’ve ever done….”

Why is it that when I looked at the tut.com message for this morning, I get the following message?

“Of all the things that matter, Rosie, that really and truly matter, working more efficiently and getting more done is not among them.

Chill,
The Universe

And, quite accidentally, Rosie, such an appreciation leads to greater efficiency and more productivity. Not that that really matters.”

Pushing, pushing, pushing to get things accomplished. Maybe that’s not the answer? And what are you pushing? Are you doing what you truly love? Or are you focused on making a living, paying the bills?

Is fear pushing you forward, driving you toward more efficiency? Are you loving the living you are creating? Do you love what you are working on, working on so efficiently, getting more done? If not, what would it look like to do what you love?

Is it time to pause the frenzy train long enough to catch a glimpse of what allowing might bring?

“No one is in charge of your happiness except you” was one of the 39 points from last week’s posting of “Handbook 2010.” See http://rosiebrownrn.com/handbook-2010/

This weekend I read a series of articles on happiness, and most all of the articles echoed the same sentiment. This weekend I also received the following bit of advice via email:

“I read an interesting article the other day. It was an article about 10 things we can do to make ourselves happier in 2010. It was saying that we can control how happy we are because 40% of our happiness is controlled by us.”

“The big one that I am now looking into is interesting. I’ll try and summarize it. It was saying that we need to stop hanging on to things just because of the ‘investment’ we’ve made or how ‘comfortable’ it makes us feel. It was saying to ignore all past things and say to yourself, ‘If I had just gotten into this situation, dealing with these things, would I stick with it?’ It’s really interesting because I know so many people who that fits…not a single one is truly happy. NOT A SINGLE ONE.”

How many of us hang on to something or someone because it feels “comfortable?”  How much personal growth takes place in “comfortable?”

If you find yourself in a comfortable spot, and your inner self nudges you to attempt something new or different, how easy is it for you to move forward? How secure do you feel? Do you find yourself asking the opinion of every person in the food chain? If so, listen to today’s daily message from Abraham:

“Your joy factor will remain constant as you are continually refining your ideas of what you want, and that’s why it is so important for you to get everybody else out of the equation. They’ve got their own game going on; they don’t understand your game. Give them a break; stop asking them what they think. Start paying attention to how you feel. Joy will be yours immediately, and everything else that you have ever thought would make you happy, will start flowing, seemingly effortlessly, into your experience.”

The degree of happiness you experience seems to be directly proportional to the degree you pay attention to how you feel. Feelings don’t lie. It either feels good or it doesn’t.

So cliché, but to thine own self be true…no one is in charge of your happiness except you.