Choosing Happiness: Understanding Content vs Context

The most important way you can not only improve your own life, but help transform the lives of everyone around you, is by choosing happiness. This is the most effective way to make a positive impact on our world, which is so full of negativity and fear. Happiness is not something you will ever discover outside of yourself. It will never come to you. It can only come from within, and you can only enjoy it by releasing everything blocking your happiness so it can shine through.

What’s blocking your happiness? Ask yourself. When I say you can choose happiness, do you have an instinctive response such as, “I can’t be happy, because X, Y and Z.” What are X, Y and Z? Why do they have such power over you? How can you choose differently so they don’t have this power? How can you transform your outlook in such a way that you are more loving to yourself?

Do you not believe that happiness can impact the planet and humanity in general? Think about it—if everyone alive right now was completely happy and at peace, how would that change the state of the world? How would it affect violence, war, politics, religion, cruelty to women, children and minorities, greed, wealth inequality and standards of living? If everyone was content with having just enough to fulfill their basic needs, and were happy to take care of one another, how differently would our world look? If fear and greed were gone, what would change? Would the world not be a more loving place to exist?

When you choose happiness, it infects everyone you come in contact with. Others see your joy and are inspired to try choosing it for themselves. Happiness is infectious. Just one person can have a huge impact without even knowing it.

The key to beginning to choose happiness is to understand the CONTENT of our lives versus the CONTEXT. The content of our lives is made up by the labels you give yourself, the things you possess, the place you live, the job you have, the things you do, the people around you, the goals you have, the failures you’ve suffered. Most of humanity fervently believes the way to happiness is via changing the content of our lives. Let me assure you, this is utterly false. Stuff, things, money, and ideas will never create happiness.

Want proof? Look at the wealthy people in our world. More than anyone else, they’re focused on the content of their lives. Appearances, luxury, and attention are what drive and plague them. Their egos have run away with themselves, clouding out any chance to discover the path to actual happiness. They’re some of the most miserable people you will ever meet.

So what is the context of our lives? This is who you are, why you’re here, and the lessons you’re meant to learn. ‘Who you are’ in this sense has nothing to do with your race, gender, sexual orientation, job title, etc. This refers to the great I Am. The truth of your Being, the wholeness of your Spirit. When everything else is peeled away, and just your soul is left behind, who are you? You came into this life for specific reasons, to grow in specific ways. What are they?

When you die, all you will take with you when you go is your soul. Nothing else will matter. When my brother Matt passed away, I visited a psychic medium who not only helped me connect and get closure with my beloved brother, but also gave me a little glimpse into the future. I had since becoming estranged from my family and specifically from my only living sibling. Matt told me via the medium that our brother was stuck on a path where accruing wealth was his only priority, well about love or happiness. I was told he would die believing he had “won” (since he had been so busy manifesting what he broadcast, he would indeed get the wealth he so desperately craved), and only then would he see the real truth. It would be far too late to change his fate.

When we die, we are held accountable for our choices and actions. The stuff we left behind makes no difference at all. There are only three possibilities: you progress, you remain stuck, or you regress and diminish. The sooner you become aware of how to progress, the more you can accomplish while you’re still here to do it. Don’t wait until your life is over and poor choices condemn you to more suffering.

Abandoning focus on the content of our lives in favor of delving into the context is the way to infuse your life with joy and peace.

We incarnate into our bodies with specific limitations programmed in. We all have to learn to cope with lack. Our bodies, our minds, our ‘shells’ will fall short and fail us in ways that are intentional for our life purpose. These details of lack are there for a reason! There is nothing wrong with you! You’ve been assigned a unique challenge that’s pointing you directly toward where you need to go. Stop wasting energy worrying about where you feel you fall short compared to others, and instead learn to surrender with an open heart to truth and your purpose. Have faith in the love surrounding you at all times, in your guides and your Self. Embrace who you are with all of your shortcomings, knowing they’re serving you well. Let go of fear and choose love.

What aspects of the content of your life have you been worrying about? How can you let them go? How can you discover more about your context? Start there.

Love and blessings, friends.