The existence of happiness

Esther happy to be inside looking out.

Years ago, I was taking a 6-week class that focused on prosperity. One of the women in the class (who always seemed angry at something or someone) shared that before she became aware of the power of words, she used to say, “All I need in life is a roll of toilet paper and a car that starts.” She went on to say, “Watch your words! I’m living that now.”

In class, we focused a lot on the use of specific words and affirmations, but it seemed like something was missing. I now know that the missing part was the feeling of ease, the feeling of expansion, and the feeling of happiness that needed to be a part of the affirmation. We can state, “I am wealthy. I am prosperous. I am joy-filled”, day in and day out, but if we’re angry, fearful, tense and unhappy, would money really change us? Would it really bring the feeling of happiness that we are hoping to experience?

A few years after the class ended, I ran into this woman at a concert in Saratoga. She told me that she had won (or been given, I can’t remember the details) $250,000. I expected her to be happy but she wasn’t. She started complaining about the taxes and how people were coming out of the woodwork to “mooch off” her.

We are so conditioned to believe that when some big thing happens (money, success, an important award or event) we will be happy, even when we know deep down that this isn’t true, even when we see evidence all over the place of “others” grasping and reaching for happiness outside of themselves, and we clearly see the folly in this, it can be so much harder to recognize in ourselves.

As I was searching for a quote for today’s post, I read the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, “It is not necessary to look for happiness outside of ourselves. We only need to be aware of the existence of happiness, and we have it right away.“

Over this weekend, it is my intention to become aware of the existence of happiness. …I am not quite sure what this means, but I love the feel of it, and hope that you will join me.

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enthusiasm vs. sour grapes

I found this statue the other day and fell in love with it

I realized as I started to write this post, that I had never written about money in such a direct way before, even though it is a “subject” that I think about every day.  Being able to do (and have) what we desire in this life is wonderful, and yet admitting that we would like to be wealthy or well-off financially, is socially unacceptable. When I am talking with a person who would like more money, almost always they will say something like,”I’d like to stop living month-to-month, but I don’t mean that I want to be a millionaire or anything like that!”  As if being a millionaire was somehow taking a step down as a spiritual human being. Why would we limit ourselves with this kind of thinking?

I bought the book, that I quoted below, a number of years ago because I was really struggling with the idea of wealth and spirituality. When I read the line about enthusiasm, I thought, “How enthusiastic have I been around money?” …not very. The dominant energy that I held about money was;  disappointed, discouraged, powerless, sometimes angry, confused longing, frustrated….a long way from enthusiastic expectation!

When I went through my, “Give it all away and serve those less fortunate” phase, on top of finding out that the less I had, the less I could do, I also saw the hypocrisy in myself. I have absolutely no issue with how anyone chooses to live, but if I feel deep down, that I cannot earn (or attract) a significant amount of money or financial abundance, and so I renounce money, I am not really making a choice. Only once I know that I can have something, am I free to give it up, free to make a choice.

A fun thing to do this weekend might be to start thinking more enthusiastically about money and abundance. Try saying a blessing over your wallet or purse. If you see a coin, say thank you. Smile at your money. Have fun. Make it a game. Start sending out a new signal and watch what happens!

“Money is energy. Your life is energy….Throughout history, philosophers and the great religious leaders have taught that there is divine abundance… We are loved and provided for. Money is just a symbol of the infinite goodness, the compassion that gave us life….money is energy and generating energy requires nothing except enthusiasm.” Stuart Wilde, The Little Money Bible

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