By Robin Volker

A lot has been written about happiness.  Everyone wants it, few claim to possess it, and fewer still seem to hold on to it.   For many of us, happiness is something that others experience, but not us.  I was talking with a friend who had recently experienced a great loss in her life.  Every time I saw her, she wept as she struggled with the pain of her grief.  Then after a few weeks, she seemed in a more stable, emotional place.  When I remarked that her energy felt lighter and happier, her face dropped, and she said to me, "I don't know why that would be true?"   What I sensed was that my friend didn't think she deserved to feel better; she hadn't grieved enough.

Happiness:  we all desire it, yet we have a plethora of reasons why it isn't ours.  Can we roll away the stone of self-condemnation and judgment, lift the veil of misperception and misunderstanding, and open our hearts to the ultimate experience of true inner bliss and joy?

To find the elusive happiness, we must begin by increasing our awareness of what we are feeling.  We must make a connection with our body, mind, and spirit, returning to the "whole" of us, learning what distracts us and causes us to separate from our physical sensations, our inner thoughts, and each other. 

Returning to our happy place is not difficult, but it does take practice and patience because the ego-based world around us would have us stay disconnected and out of sync forever.   The ego has no power in a happy world.   Chaos and confusion are its playground.  Here again, we discover that all constructive change in our lives comes back to us.   We are the ones we have been waiting for.  I am the one who is in charge of my happiness experience.  You are the one who is in charge of your happiness experience.

Join me at UIC Facebook page during the month of February for a discussion based on Deepak Chopra's latest book, The Ultimate Happiness Prescription, 7 Keys to Joy and Enlightenment.  Material from this book will be used during February's Sunday series, "The Happiness Project."  The book will be available at UIC on Sundays or you can follow this link through our website to Amazon.com.  UIC receives a small percentage of your Amazon.com purchases when you link through our website.

Be ready to release your inner happiness from the constraints of your own limited thinking and the chains of outer circumstances.   This simple desire we have to be happy is also our most profound desire.  By placing our focus on being happy, we transform our lives and our world.

Namaste`
Rev. Robin