How to Be Happy

COMMITMENT IS YOUR FRIEND
 
I am not sure how many books are out there that mention in their own way the same thing in the first article in this series, that is; ‘you are reading this for a reason’ but I have certainly seen it in quite a few and it always struck me as an exciting concept because I really felt that maybe, just maybe, the author was right and I had found something that was going to answer some massive question for me, maybe a question I had not even worked out yet that would create a much needed shift in my consciousness. Which is why, I thought, I was attracted to the book in the first place and now it was being confirmed for me by the author.
 
On some level I was asking for a shift and when I read that statement it always felt epic, like it came straight from the Buddha or something. You know the proverb, ‘when the student is ready the teacher will appear’. I was excited that I must be ready, for what I was never exactly sure, but thank god! I was ready for something and you know what. Something massive always shifted in my awareness. I always ended up understanding life from a new perspective.
 
Every time I read a book like this my attitude and outlook would clearly shift into a more positive vibration during the period of time it took me to read and I knew I was onto something good. That higher vibration would last for a couple of months after I had finished the book and it would seem a life change had most certainly taken place, I now had a new way of looking at the world and it all made a little more sense.
 
However, usually after those couple of exciting months had passed, the vibration would seem to slowly dissipate and I’d be back in the place I was before reading the epic book. I couldn’t work it out, what was up with that? It was enough to drive me mad! Sometimes at this stage another epic book would come along to reinvigorate me and raise the vibe again, however other times I would just give in to the fact that maybe it was all wishful thinking and I was not ever going to hold the vibration, let alone raise it higher.
 
Then one day it struck me as I was listening to a recording of an interview with Bob Proctor, well known from the movie ‘The Secret’. I stumbled across one of his recordings in a moment of desperation after having pleaded with the universe to help me understand this chaos. The iPhone I had been getting use to has extremely easy access through iTunes to all types of inspirational stuff. (I highly recommend getting yourself one or something similar and loading up on high vibe recordings that you can play to yourself wherever you are.)
 
I must have heard the same concept loads of times before from many different points of view in all the books I’d read throughout my life, however this time I seemed to get it. It was either the way Bob had put it or that I was finally ready to receive the message, I cant be sure, but I do know I got it! It was a major key to achieving all my dreams and I knew it with all my heart. I committed to it there and then.
 
The key is what this article is all about. What I got was this. To achieve the happiness in all areas of my life that I was looking for and now more than ever so keenly desired, I was going to need to fully commit to daily practice of consciously raising my vibration and keeping the idea of happiness at the forefront of my mind for the better part of each day.
 
The main reason for the need of this commitment was that on the mind-body level of our existence we are dealing with not only our conscious but also our sub-conscious minds.
 
Over the last couple of weeks if you managed to read article #1 in this series – You Are a Magnificent Creator, James Allans book, As a Man Thinketh, and watched the movie The Secret once or twice each then you may have noticed a marked increase in your positive feelings during and after the viewings only to then notice your feelings slip back to where they started originally. Sound familiar?
 
The experience will have been different for every person. A very skeptical mind may have just been totally wound up by all of it and proclaimed it BS and therefore would not be reading this right now. Whereas on the other end of the spectrum, someone with a mind very open and receptive to change will have been completely inspired, been able to maintain a positive attitude and now be hungry for more.
 
The reason we slip back to our old ways of operating quite easily is due to behavioral patterns that are ingrained in our sub-conscious mind and this is really where its at. Consciously we can try to manage our surface thoughts however it misses something crucial and in many cases is likely to make things worse if we don’t realize the work we are doing needs to also be aimed at the sub-conscious level of mind.
 
These sub-conscious mind patters or scientifically speaking, nervous system networks in our brain (neural pathways), are kind of like paths through a grass field. The grass may be waist high but because the routes have been trodden so often, they are very clear pathways and so very easy to walk along to get through the field. Of course, we naturally gravitate towards these paths.
 
When we decide we want to change routes, and become happier on a consistent basis for instance, we need to create a new path through the field and let the old one grow over. This takes a little time and effort. Some of these negative paths have been trodden for a lifetime and some much less so on a body-mind level we cannot expect to change them overnight.
 
Let it be said here though, change overnight is not impossible. In fact as already hinted at in the previous article there is a possibility of bypassing this process all together through accessing our true nature first. The part of us which exists before the experience of our body-mind.
 
Once you recognize and consistently operate from the perspective of your true nature then all thoughts and circumstances in life are simply like waves in the ocean. All are accepted as they are and by seeing ourselves as the ocean within which the waves are occurring, a much deeper peace and happiness is unveiled, we will be going into to this as we get further into the series.
 
For now though, this body-mind understanding is important. As we are here, having a human experience, manifesting our physical reality, it is very beneficial on many levels to understand the mechanics of the sub-conscious mind and how it can virtually run our experience of life from the shadows.
 
To create a new path through the grass field we need to tread new subconscious patterns into our brain. To do this is quite simple however it can take some concerted, ongoing effort and we need to be up for the challenge. We need to simply be committed to ourselves and our happiness enough to do the work on a consistent and ongoing basis. It’s extremely powerful to be clear with yourself on this point and make that definite commitment to yourself.
 
There is a great story about a NASSA astronaut program where a number of astronauts had to wear concave goggles for 40 days without taking them off. The nature of the lenses in the goggles actually turned the visual world completely upside down. The reason for this program was to make sure that while the astronauts were in space they did not have any adverse reactions to the no gravity situation, like sickness or madness. A most astounding thing happened that no one had predicted. Between day 25 – 30 every participants brain developed brand new neural pathways that effectively turned the world up the right way again! In successive tests it was noted that for participants who took the goggles off at say day 10, left them off for a day, and then put them on again had to wait the full 25 – 30 days before this phenomenon would occur again!
 
So the conclusion that came from all of this was that it takes our brain around 30 consecutive days to reprogram new patters or pathways. This period of time for creating change in the sub-conscious mind is now commonly used in many psychological therapies. The key point here is consecutively, and this is where the concerted effort comes in. In my experience the willingness to go well beyond 30 days adds great power to the process.
 
If you are serious about changing your sub-conscious patterns then making this promise and commitment to yourself will feel like one of the most exciting decisions you have ever made. A daily effort on your part to find positive perspectives on everything that is happening in your reality will have a profound effect on you. It is also important not to take this too seriously and to have fun with it.
 
There is no major problem if consistency takes a while to develop. After all you have the rest of your life to master this side of things, the fun and happiness is already here, within the journey. This may sound like a bit of a paradox and that is because it is but we’ll get to that.
 
 
 
Where this commitment to developing new sub-conscious patterns is really going to help in the end is in developing the ability to consciously manifest what it is you want into your life on the body-mind level, not in generating your natural happiness, that already exists.
 
The real truth is that happiness is already, always here. All that happens when you watch an inspiring movie or read an inspiring book or have positive thoughts is that you access it, you don’t create it, you access it. You are accessing your natural essence, your life force energy, its like you are opening a door to what is already here. The only reason you can say you ‘exist’ is because you have life-force energy flowing through you in this moment and this life-force is where bliss and happiness resides. It’s already here.
 
So then, our main mission in forging new positive pathways in our brain or sub-conscious is simply to develop a consistently more positive state of mind through which we have easier access to our natural happiness.
 
The next article in this series will focus mainly on the power of perspective and it will truly be life changing. Until then the practice for the next couple of weeks is simply to consistently spend some time each day in a positive space, it does not have to be all day to start but take at least 5 minutes each day to do this. Make it a small fun practice with which you will engage your new commitment to your happiness.
 
Each day (try to choose the same time each day if you can) on a notepad or smartphone, write a letter beginning with ' Dear Universe / or Dear God / or Dear Infinite Spirit, I am so happy and grateful now that......’ Proceed to list out an amazing dream life experience you would like to experience as if it has already happened. Write a new one each day and make them spectacular, go nuts, let your imagination go wild, it could be things you have been dreaming of for a long time or it could be random thoughts that just pop into your head as you write them. And that’s all, have fun with it. Don’t put too much thought into why you are doing this just do it as a fun exercise to develop consistency over the next two weeks. Throughout the day whenever you remember or feel inspired take a look back at what you have written and edit things as you feel to make them even better.
 
If you get totally stuck for an idea one day just read a couple of the ones you have already written, try to have at least 10 within the next 14 days and I will see you on the other side with article #3
 
May you begin to recognize your happiness in every moment, this is my wish for you. ;-)