It happened while I was driving. Lost in my thoughts, I remember asking myself: Why do I feel so angry? I was tired of being on the edge so often. I knew the root of the feeling but I was stuck.
Then it hit me, it was that simple: If you want to be happy, just be happy!
I’m not saying that you have to fake anything or ignore the issue but our emotional body is like a lake. If you throw a stone (feeling/thought) in the water, the surface will undulate. The wave (the emotion) disrupts the stillness of the lake. You can choose to maintain the calmness of the surface by sinking deep where there is just peace and immobility. Here’s the key, the physical body needs movement but the mind craves immobility. Waves are disturbing whereas the bottom of the lake feels like home where it’s safe. We all experience different emotions throughout the day. Some of them are more recurrent than others. And that’s specifically the recurrence of a few “bad” or “good” emotions and feelings that set the tone of your day and your life on a broader level.
To help generate light feelings, our internal dialog has to evoke happiness, joy, security and confidence in the mind. The words we choose are critical. They do have power because as anything in the Universe, they have a vibration. The purer the vibration the better. A positive internal dialog will have a positive impact on how you feel. Instantly.
So whenever I feel anxiety or anger growing inside, I simply ask myself: Happy dream or sad dream? And like a switch, I feel calm again because of course, I always choose happy dream.
Why the word dream you may ask. Well, this subject could be an entire article itself but to explain it briefly, our brain permanently generate thoughts. It doesn’t make the difference between reality and dream. Any happy thought will make you feel good whether it’s a memory from your past or something you made up. The mind tells thousands of stories a day so why not choose happy stories?
And don’t get me wrong, I’m not advising to live in a fantasy world, I’m just sharing a little trick to channel the emotions and feelings that don’t serve you anymore.
When you feel good in your skin, you see life and your own possibilities from a wider – and almost infinite – angle. Achievement and confidence come next on the journey to happiness.
I highly recommend The 4 Toltec Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz if you haven’t already read it.
