You can only create happiness from a happy place

I’m the first to admit I don’t have my s**t together. At least in some of the areas of life that I would normally feel had to be in place to be okay.

But I have lived through so much chaos during the last 10 or so years that I have learned that if you can find the eye of the storm and stay there, you have access to eternal happiness. Not constant happiness. But a source of happiness that cannot be taken away from you no matter what happens.

What I also learned is that there will probably never come a time in my life when everything is ‘perfect’ and to embrace the imperfection. That life is like a pie you dropped on the floor, you better take a fork and start eating it, like one of my favorite authors once said.

Gratitude and presence.

Cultivating inner peace.

Those are the true paths to happiness.

Living a happy life doesn’t mean you’re always happy.

It means you have found a place inside you where you can feel peaceful and held – no matter what your outer circumstances are like.

Feeling peaceful and held = happiness in my understanding.

Ask yourself: What does happiness feel like to you?

You can have checked all of society’s boxes – be with the partner, have the children, the job, the things, the friends, the money – and still not be happy because you have not yet found that place.

And you can be the opposite – a total mess seen from the outside, but able to feel peace on the inside. At least most or some of the time.

To find that place is not something you do overnight. It takes going on a quest into the deepest parts of yourself in search for all that blocks it from appearing to you. It will feel like looking for something you don’t remember what is, using only a tiny flashlight in a huge, dark room full of stuff and distractions.  

It also takes a lot of practice and commitment. Your ego, mirrored by society, the media and those around you, will again and again try to convince you to look outside of yourself for happiness. But if you listen to those guiding voices – you end up getting lost.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t change your outer circumstances if they are not the right ones for you. I most certainly think that’s a good idea. Making a physical move away from a job, relationship or place that doesn’t serve you can be a great catalyst for change.  

The thing is – you must change on the inside before anything on the outside will truly feel different to you.

If you manifest from lack, you manifest lack.

If you manifest from fear, you manifest fear.

If you manifest from overwhelm, you manifest overwhelm.

If you manifest from peace, peace is what you will create.

What you can do overnight – or today – to create a happy life is to set the intention. Tell the universe that living a happy life is what you want. Nothing more, nothing less.

Don’t go into what it takes, only how it feels.

Set the intention, clearly and boldly, and the universe will start to throw signs, gifts and challenges (i.e. gifts in disguise) your way.