As Nataly Kogan inspired us to look for the “awesomeness in our humanness” this week, I also found myself wanting to explore my own happiness beliefs. So, in the spirit of the season for this week’s download, I put the question out there to the Universe – What is happiness? And is happiness real or is it just an emotional story we tell ourselves?

Happiness is a beautiful expression of the human experience. It is an emotion that uplifts, inspires, and infuses joy. It fills us up with life. It calls us to count blessings, see beauty, conjure dreams and ignite expectations for pleasures and possibilities.

Lacking happiness can feel like an abyss of lack and longing. It carries loneliness, deprivation and fear on its back. The weight of unhappiness is incomplete and unworthy.

Happiness is a treasure that we hunt. We can be reckless and relentless in our pursuit of it and vow to do and give anything in order to have it.

Happiness can visit us unexpectedly and then be pulled instantly from our hands.

Happiness is both our greatest passion and greatest fear. We think of it as an unreliable companion on our life’s path. And yet it is the soulmate who never leaves us.

The truth about happiness is that it is an illusion. It is the illusion of your beliefs. It is your eternal guidance towards your path. We hold the key to its power over us always. And it is true to us as we are to ourselves.
This is the time to tap into the energy of happiness – co-create with it. Source it. Test it. Embrace it. It is a lifeforce as real as oxygen. It can transform you. And it is strongest when you give it away.

You can find happiness wherever you choose to see it. So look for it everywhere.

As you look around and see holiday lights, it is a reminder that you are and can create miracles. In this time of reverence and remembrances it is also the reminder that the world can change with the birth of a single human being.

That also means YOU.

It does not matter if you believe in religion or tradition or honoring holy days. The significance of this time is for you to make a choice in how to feel – if you want to observe or participate. To immerse in the celebration. To dance to the music. To unwrap the possibilities of every gift you receive and illuminate from within.

It is in the leaning in that we are called. It is in the joining and rejoicing that we are counted. It is in the giving that we are truly alive.

Feel the possibilities that surround you in the season of light! Feel how the angels and ornaments and symbols can magically come alive! Allow yourself to look at all of it again through the eyes of a child. With a heart that is open for both the giving and the receiving. To once again remember what it feels like not to question the legends and the stories of those who could fly through the night sky. Who could magically grant every wish and tie us more closely together with those we love. THAT is happiness.

Remember the kaleidoscope that is your human journey. It is happiness laced with sadness, experiences intertwined with memories. You are creating your life at every moment! These are the presents of the present.

It is at these precious holiday moments that we are the most alive. Even in those moments where we miss our past…our loved ones…our prior selves. We are reflections of them still shining.

Do not forget that YOU GET TO CHOOSE..you cannot always control “what” happens but you can always control “how” you experience it. Allow yourself to feel all the feels. The ebbs and the flows as the pendulum swings through all of the emotions that these holidays bring. Happiness is always sitting around the table.

Know that YOU ARE HAPPINESS because YOU ARE LOVE. Happiness is not something you experience.

Happiness is what you are.