Hello everyone ...

Happiness has become the new 'Enlightenment',

the new Heaven,

an unattainable goal,

a Finish Line that keep receding.

When Spiritual Teachers, including myself,

emphasize the importance and the value of happiness,

something interesting happens -

people start to feel as if something has gone wrong

if they aren't happy -

that only adds unhappiness to Unhappiness.

There is a kind of shame that arises within us

when we are unhappy.

This is especially painful

when we identify with being Unhappy.

Some of us don't have any idea what Happiness really is

because we've never felt it.

We feel the very worst about ourselves

because we can't seem to get life 'right'

and be happy like other people can.

We begin to feel like we are karmically destined to suffer.

This issue of attaching to Happiness

is just a branch off of the tree

of trying to get life 'right'.

When we feel as if we are happy

we feel like we are getting our life right.

When we feel like we are unhappy

we feel like we are getting our life wrong.

So we hold the belief that we *should* be happy

even when we aren't happy.

That compounds unhappiness - it perpetuates it.

When we think that we *should* be happy when we're not happy

we start to resist our negative emotions.

We feel bad about them.

I've said it a million times before, and I'm saying it again:

Whatever we resist, persists ...

So, in thinking that we should be happy,

in pushing against our negative emotions

we stay stuck in those negative emotions.

When we become resistant to suffering and to our own unhappiness

the desire for happiness no longer feels good,

it feels desperate

because we want something we don't think we can have.

We want happiness but we don't think we can have it.

So we are focused on suffering and on unhappiness.

So what's the best thing we can do?

Give up on Happiness ...

This may sound odd and like a bit of a contradiction

coming from someone like me,

who has dedicated their life

to teaching people to reach Happiness.

But what you find

is that these contradictory ideas

are, in fact, complementary.

If you give up on Happiness

you are releasing resistance to suffering

and/or unhappiness.

Imagine that you lived your life

in a continually-flowing gale-force wind -

when you are resisting something

it's as if you're turned against that air current, face-first.

It's hard to breathe,

it's hard to move because you're pushing against

that strong air current,

it's exhausting.

When you stop resisting something

you allow the gale-force wind to blow you

wherever *it* wants to take you.

Now imagine that this gale-force wind has one prerogative

and that's to take you to everything that you've been asking for,

to take you to that which is wanted.

Now, do you see the benefit of going with the wind?

The Universe *is* this gale-force wind.

I'm sure you've all heard of somebody

who wanted a promotion for years.

They wanted it desperately.

They tried everything they could think of to get that promotion.

Until, one day, it became so painful to want that promotion

that they gave up on it

and, instead, they started looking for a new job.

And within hours or days, they got that phone call

telling them that they got the job.

Now, it's tempting to think that is an ironic, cruel joke

that's being played by a malevolent Universe.

But the reality is,

in the moment that the person gave up on that desire

they released resistance to what they did not want.

And releasing resistance to what you don't want

allows you to flow in the direction of what is wanted.

You can't cause yourself to un-want something.

So the person in this scenario didn't not-want the promotion,

(you can't un-want something you want)

so, even though they still had that desire,

giving up on getting it

allowed them to release enough resistance

that they got it.

The Universe already knows you want to be happy.

That is the only thing you really ever wanted anyway.

Everything else - that promotion,

that boyfriend or girlfriend,

that house, that car -

is just a means to that end,

which is Happiness ...

Not only does the Universe know that you want happiness,

the Universe is calling you towards it,

pushing you towards it ...

It is arranging all necessary conditions for your happiness.

The only way the Universe

can achieve more Expansion through *your* perspective

is if you manage to align-with and experience your own desires.

So, believe me,

the Universe will facilitate your happiness

every step of the way.

So what happens if you let yourself

release resistance to being unhappy?

What happens if you let yourself go with the wind?

You allow yourself to flow in the direction of what you want -

which is Happiness.

Think of this like a back-door entry to Happiness.

All of the various beliefs that perpetuate unhappiness

like they were karmically destined to suffer -

they turn us against that gale-force wind that is the Universe.

They make it so that we are in a state of resistance.

But sometimes,

the state of resistance

that is the most painful and does the most damage to us

is our desperate quest for happiness.

When we become desperate for something

that's because we have an acute awareness

of the absence of that thing in our life.

That's why the feeling of Need has been identified

as a feeling which comes from a space of Lack.

That means that you are focused on the absence

of whatever it is that you want

and you can't be focused on the lack or absence of something

and get what you want, at the same time -

it's a Vibrational contradiction.

Sometimes our awareness of our unhappiness,

and desperate desire for happiness,

is so strong

that the path of least resistance

is to release our attachment to Happiness altogether.

When Happiness ceases to be our goal

where we are cannot be wrong or lacking in any way

because you cannot compare your 'now'

to your imagined future happiness.

You cannot feel bad because you aren't there yet,

when there isn't anywhere to get to.

You cannot cause yourself to not-want Happiness

because you cannot cause yourself to un-want

something that you want.

But you can change your focus

so that you're not focusing on the Now

as if the Now is unwanted.

The best way to let go of the destination we call Happiness

is to fall in-love with what-Is - fall in-love with the Now.

The only reason that any Being suffers

is because they are currently believing a thought

that contradicts what-Is.

The 'should' thoughts are the best example of this.

If I am thinking 'I should be happy' and I'm not -

I'm believing a thought that contradicts what-Is.

I'm in resistance to Me in my current state.

Our stress in life is caused by arguing with what-Is.

Embrace the idea that what happened

*should* have happened and was supposed to happen.

Embrace the idea that nothing can go wrong -

that everything that happens to us

is actually happening *for* us.

The reality is, no one wants to lose their job

or have an argument with a loved-one

or get into an accident ...

But when we don't have complete control over our Vibrations,

and thus, our Point-of-Attraction, these things happen.

None of us maintains our Vibration at a level

where nothing ever happens to cause us

to feel negative emotion.

And so, it isn't helpful to mentally argue

with the things that happened

by thinking 'That *shouldn't* have happened',

or 'I *should* be happy right now, even though '

'this is happening to me'.

It is much better to begin switching your focus

to embrace what is right-here and now.

Besides, if none of us are able to maintain a state

where nothing ever happens to cause us to feel negative emotion,

maybe we're *not meant* to maintain a Vibrational state

where nothing happens to ever cause us to feel negative emotion.

Focus at what-Is with the Intention

of looking for what is right about it.

What is right about what-Is?

We want to focus for the positives

inherent within the unwanted things.

This does not only allow us to release resistance

and thus, feel emotionally better,

it also makes it so we're changing

our Vibrational Point-of-Attraction

so we can't be a match to the unwanted thing anymore.

I'll give you an example:

One day, I was on my way to a date I'd been looking forward to

for weeks.

I was super-excited ...

And, of course,

I'm the kind of person who tends to feel

as if I don't deserve things to go well.

So when I was on my way, my car broke down ...

After my car broke down,

I was sitting there

(after two men pushed my car to the side of the road)

thinking 'This shouldn't be happening',

'Why is this happening to me?',

'The Universe seriously *is* out to get me'.

I was spiraling with that kind of thought process.

I realized that it wasn't going to get me anywhere

(because I already understand the Law of Attraction)

so I pulled out my Positive Aspects journal.

I sat down,

I started listing all of the Positives that I could think

about that particular situation I found myself in.

So, on the top of the page, I wrote down

'My Car Broke Down.'

I made myself write a list of Positive Aspects

about the car breaking down.

I tried to look for proof that the car breaking down

was right instead of wrong.

For example:

- I broke down right next to the pull-off

on the side of the road ...

- the model of car I'm driving is simple to fix ...

- the electricity in the car still works,

so I'm listening to good music ...

- there are tons of people willing to help, in the city ...

- this is an opportunity to practice being flexible ...

- I'm happy that I'm focusing positively

instead of negatively, right now ...

- I have no way of knowing that the date would be enjoyable

or in Alignment with my highest good ...

- the leaves are blowing around on the street,

and they are artistically beautiful ... etc.

I felt my mood lift.

I felt relief.

I was no longer in resistance

to the fact that my car broke down.

And you know what happens when you release resistance

to your car being broken down?

My car restarted - as the tow-truck was on its way to me -

it started as if nothing had ever happened.

We can take this one step further