Ever since happiness heard your name, It has been running through the streets trying to find you. --Hafiz
Do we seek happiness or does it seek us? Interesting question and one that I like to ponder once in a while. Some people seem to live with a black cloud perpetually over their heads. It seems like bad “stuff” happens to the same people over and over again. They get sick, they lose their jobs, their homes get robbed, their children get sick, their houses fall apart. I’m not saying that some of these things don’t happen to all of us at times, but I’ve noticed that I have friends or family members who have an inordinate amount of bad luck. And it makes me wonder, do they live with the intention of being happy and these things just occur anyway, or do they live waiting for the sky to fall and so, in some way, bring it down around their ears? In other words, do we somehow reap what we sow? Do some people just have bad karma, whereby the individual is considered to be the sole doer and enjoyer of his karmas and their “fruits.” Or rotten fruits, whichever the case may be?
And how does innate happiness play a role? Are some of us predisposed to be happy souls, and therefore bring about cheerful, good things to our lives, while others are generally unhappy and unfulfilled and then somehow bring about the negative? And can we change this for ourselves? Can we become happy and bring about better luck? I know of a local woman who was fairly generally known to be a negative person. She wasn’t really approachable, had few friends, was looked at by others as “snobby,” but always said it was because she was shy. But her few friends even said she was a complainer and a bleak spirit--always looking at that glass as half-empty and exuding quite a bit of negative energy.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. She beat it, but nothing really changed. She still carried that negative energy with her. A few months ago she was diagnosed with brain cancer--inoperable, death-impending brain cancer. She found a man, a sort of guru, who began helping her change her energy. She started to see how the negativity was draining her of experiencing life in a healthy way, and she decided she didn’t want the time she had left to be so gloomy. So she adjusted her attitude and began to live her life in a grateful manner all the time. She made a conscious effort to be happy. The doctors cannot explain it, but her tumors are shrinking and the cancer is heading for the shadows. It’s not gone, and she still may have limited time, but amazing, good things are happening in her life. Could it simply be due to her attitude adjustment?
I have always loved the story of Chicken Little. The sky is constantly getting ready to rain down on her. She just cannot see how it could stay pinned up where it belongs, around the clouds and sun and moon. Disaster is constantly imminent. In the end, Chicken Little realizes it takes courage to live without fear. It takes courage to choose to be happy, even in the face of disaster that befalls us all sometimes.
It takes courage to make yourself happy, to stop running through the streets ignoring the sound of your name. . . .
