30 December 2010

Happiness Is Not A Commodity that Can Be Given or Stolen from You.


"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." ~Eleanor Roosevelt
 
Happiness Is Not A Commodity that Can Be Given or Stolen from You.  I love this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt and, in fact, think of it often.  For our purposes, exploring happiness, we can paraphrase her this way: "No one can make you unhappy without your consent."  And "No one can make you happy without your consent."  Now pause a moment and ask your mind what it thinks about this observation. Don't censor the mind. Just let it have its say...

If your mind is like my mind, a list of people and events who have taken away your happiness might be the first thing that comes to mind. Your mind might say, "That *#@!$!! -- remember what he/she did to you that time. And does just about every time you're having a good time...."

Or you might remember an absolutely wonderful time when another's presence or connection gave you great happiness. Which is wonderful. No doubt about it. As human beings, we yearn for connection to others ― peaceful, exciting, creative, passionate, and challenging connections that ignite the liveliness of life and make us know in our depths that life is an immeasurable gift and we are more than we think we are. Experiences such as these happen not only with other human beings, but also with animals, nature and the Divine.

Happiness is not a commodity that can be either given or stolen.
However, problems arise when we see others as the bestower of happiness and unhappiness. When we do this, we give away the power and majesty of our being, all the richness of growth and change. We give away ownership of our life.

Nobody can steal our happiness without our consent and no one gives us happiness without our consent. Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts, your experiences? Comment and let the sharing grow!
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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:53 PM

    Absolutely agree. I was in late twenties when I asked myself, "WHY did your mood change?" Because of the inner me, my choice. Natural reactions come to us from our bodies and minds. Yet through the years of living with this question, I am a more peaceful person. If someone chooses to be angry at me, instead of my emotions going wild, I can BE and calmly talk with her. Our inner self is where life is. We're in this body to house our self. Choose to be YOU.

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  2. Anonymous8:00 PM

    I totally agree with what Emily has said. My only problem it allowing myself to internalize it and fully believe it and not allow my head to rule my heart if that makes any sense. I know I can't let other people rule how I feel about myself or even about them for that matter. It's a matter of remaining true to onesself.

    -Audrey L.

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  3. @Anonymous

    Yes, and then there are the times when another person's anger (usually my husband's or my children's!) just burst through the me I am today and I am thrown out of control. But the wonderful part is how fast I can reclaim myself, my center and my peace. Sometimes in seconds, sometimes, well, longer. Then I get annoyed at myself and then I forgive myself.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Emily

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  4. Also, Audrey, I think what I said above is also in response to what you wrote. We have to be kind to ourselves when we fall out of control and give ourselves a gold star when we are in a situation where we would have been thrown out of control, but aren't.

    It all the journey. And we keep on journeying on, growing, stumbling, and picking ourself up again.

    Love ya!
    Emily

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  5. Patresa11:40 PM

    "Happiness is not a commodity that can be given or stolen." So true!

    ReplyDelete

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