August 13, 2013
Happiness can elude people at times. Some may feel that if it is not part of their lives they must look for it elsewhere. However, that is a misguided assumption. Happiness cannot be found elsewhere. In fact, to look for it anywhere but within yourself would only cause further emotional drain because you would not be able to control the events that could deliver, what in your mind you have defined as, happiness. If, for example, you think that by winning the jackpot for millions of dollars will make you happy, the probability of that happening is infinitesimal and if it did happen you may soon find that happiness was not in the millions of dollars that you just received. People from all walks of life, from the super-rich to the super-famous to the super-successful have at times taken their own lives because none of those things brought them happiness.
There is a reason for that. Happiness is only a reflection of how you feel about yourself. If you hate yourself for who you are, you could win a million dollar jackpot, win the Nobel Prize or even marry the princess of your dreams, or prince charming, and it won’t matter. If you hate that person within you, you will feel that you are not worthy of them and may actually experience guilt for receiving or having achieved something that you feel you do not deserve and may even recent them.
As such, in the pursuit of happiness we must start the journey with ourselves and end it with ourselves. In that journey we need to explore who we are, we need to understand who we are, we need to love ourselves for who we are, and more importantly, we need to let go of those feelings that keep dragging us into the dump. Feelings of self-hatred only exist in our minds and they will continue to exist for as long as we continue to entertain such thoughts. Ironically, as I wrote in my book, such thoughts come about the result of our belief system. I also describe how our belief system can become the stalker within and how it can be modified. However, regardless of how you choose to pursue happiness, if you cannot accept the fact that it can only be found within yourself then it will continue to elude you.