Be Happy

A friend recommended a book a couple of weeks ago and Amazon quickly sent it to my door.

It is Happy Yoga by Steve Ross and yes it is all about yoga, and so much more. My friend has been to Steve's class in LA and she swears that on her "when I win the lottery" list, she is going to take me to La for a class! So, let's send Jennifer some good energy as she buys those lottery tickets, ok?

There is a quote from Voltaire in the book"wherever my travels lead, paradise is where I am."

The first chapter of the book is.....you can't get happy, you can only be happy. I have taught and did my best to live this philosophy for years.......I was thrilled to read Steve's writings and thoughts on the subject........Happiness.

I teach people every day whose quest for happiness has almost killed them. If only a drug or alcohol or person could make us happy! We don't accept that happiness and peace are simple concepts that are obtainable by everyone. We want to complicate and control, in reality make them unobtainable.

Voltaire's quote.......is it that difficult to understand that there is beauty and happiness no matter where you are, people imprisoned have found peace and happiness, while those who live in paradise are miserable. It's like traveling to a foreign country, surrounded by exotics and complaining the whole time because nothing was like home, the food, the people, the transportation, the religion,etc. When we travel, we eat as the locals, spend time with them as much as possible, enjoy the difference and see the paradise that is right in front of us.

That belief that you can "get" happy..........buy the fastest car, the biggest house, the perfect mate, the perfect job, the best body, the most expensive clothes, the perfect yoga pose.........you choose happy, not buy it. The obsession of I will be happy when........I have this drink, take this pill, sleep with this guy, achieve this goal.......it is so scary that some of us go to our graves waiting

to get happy!

I read a wonderful theory about love many years ago, can't remember where I read it or the exact words, but it went something like this............Love is how the other person makes you feel about your self. I think when we surround ourselves with as many people as possible that reflect our love back to us, that is true love. The poem Desiderata , it talks about avoiding those who vex the spirit..........we may have to work or associate with them sometime, but for god's sake, don't live with them! To me, love is believing in someone's dream as much as you do your own.

So this be happy, is it really that simple??????? Why don't you try it..........choose happy. We all have problems, life can be quite difficult, and very unfair, but wallowing in misery, seeing only the darkness day after day it traps you like a sticky paper fly trap. For sixty seconds, decide to be happy, fake a smile, fake a laugh.........just be happy for one minute. At least once a day,

laugh out loud, giggle whenever possible, smile at someone old( and not just the cute female or male passing by, though that's ok too) smile at a child, and then breathe. When you're stuck in traffic, smile for just a moment, when you stand in line at the super store, take a breath and smile, life changes that quickly.

Look at paradise where you are, I knew a family who lived in total poverty and they were happy, I have known those who have everything and could not be happy. Happiness is what we have right now, not something that we'll "get" someday. I try to laugh out loud every day, it feels good and makes everything a little better. When my mom passed away, my siblings and I sat at her kitchen table after the funeral and laughed through our tears as each of us remembered funny stories about our mom. There were moments of happy, even in grief.

The New Year is coming up, choose to be happy......choose to see paradise no matter where you are. The moments will come when you see and feel nothing but darkness, but you can turn the light on, you can be happy.