If you think about it, everything that we want we want because we think that in the having of it that we'll be happy; and yet we're reminded repeatedly that happiness has to precede manifestation.
If you've seen the movie, The Secret, or read any of the Law of Attraction books by Jerry and Esther Hicks then you know the drill...
"All we have to do to attract abundance and well-being is be happy!" Great! Whip, whip, snap, snap, "I'm happy!" If only it were that easy! But the truth is, the words are always simple but the experience is often not; especially when we're in the trenches and can't even remember we have a choice for joy, let alone the ability to choose or feel it.
Try as we might, when happiness is an unfamiliar set point for us we can't always just "be" happy.
More pointedly, we can't just "stay" happy.
Life gets in the way; our deep wounds and self-destructive patterns get in the way.
We continue to lead with scars from past insults, rejections, discouragements and attacks; playing them over and over again in our thoughts until they become patterns of thought that unwittingly block the very joy we seek.
What then, is the key to getting past these blocks? By now, most of us know we are somehow entitled to that all elusive happiness, but still we find ourselves plagued (yes, it is contagious within the psyche!) by resentment, doubt, judgment and unworthiness before happiness has even had a chance to get its pants on.
We're often left frustrated and...
(to add insult to injury)...
now we have disappointment to add to our repertoire.
A voice inside of us screams, "It shouldn't be this hard!" And you're right.
It shouldn't be.
And it isn't.
But you can't get to eternal happiness and fulfillment without internal discipline; without the deliberate decision to change each ego-based fear thought for thoughts of love and joy.
The Law of Attraction really does work but it takes ongoing focus; it takes congruency of thought, emotions, attitudes and assumptions.
It takes the self-discipline of governing your emotions; of being present in the quiet stillness each day; of keeping your thoughts monitored.
But the physical, spiritual, mental and emotional benefits you will receive from having done so will quickly outweigh any resistance you might initially feel.
Don't give up just as the oasis appears on the horizon! Choose that discipline and you choose the abundance of life! Many clients who come to me feel caught between two stories.
The old story that shaped their life, energized their actions, guided their education and provided them with something of a purpose is no longer sustaining them.
It can't.
And that's the good news! Fifth dimensionary energies surrounding our planet now are demanding change within us.
You are being called to your "awakening"! You are being asked to give up all sense of loss and sadness, fear and doubt so that you can finally experience the fullness of who you are! To do that requires both release and renewal; release of the "toxic thoughts" that have kept you from moving forward and a renewal of vital life-giving energies that can magnetize joy into your experience.
It is not an overnight process; it's a labor of love.
One deliberate happy thought affects the entire matrix of who you are; imagine what a hundred happy thoughts would do...
and a hundred more! You can't get it wrong, that's the great part.
Just keep plugging away, one happy thought at a time and eventually that discipline of love that seemed such a struggle before will become the very expression of who you are.