The 7 Keys to Happiness

So we're gonna talk about the seven keys to happiness. Now the first thing, I have to clarify, because I've done a talk before that that said there's a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness on a human level the interpretation is much more about stimulation happiness you get what you want you're excited so in one talk you will have heard me say joy is a spiritual experience happiness is a human excitation and now yet I'm going to talk about seven keys to to happiness that's because humans equate the word

happiness with joy so I'm not contradicting I could just as easily say have said seven keys to joy but it doesn't sound as correct as a sentence structure so so when I'm talking about happiness today I am talking about real Thoreau you know happiness called joy and on that note one of the points I'm going to be making is real happiness versus false so the real happiness is the same as joy false happiness is more of a human experience so you know people ask me this a lot and there's two primary things they ask first how can I

become more happy and other people how come it doesn't sustain and it's basically because you're on earth you're you're in a place that is too much too often designed to be a place of separation from God how could you feel joy all the time Yogananda confirms this why would you expect that if you're not home you're not home so don't expect capital h home kinds of feelings why would you be so shocked and in fact it should at the very of it the very lack of it on earth joy sustained joy should become kind of

a impetus to say oh cool that's a reminder I'm not home usually what we go is oh you know just dis shoveled and is destroyed had happiness yesterday it's not there to end it and it's like that man it's like the all the time when I'm teaching it's like entering a space of of light and feeling just high every time I walk away from this is off the stage not the minute but every time every day that I have a conference a workshop a lecture I'm in such a nice feeling of sustained light

it's fantastic but every time it's a temptation as soon as you step out of that to have a contrast because that's what this world is duality so I teach and I'm like buzzing and then it could be an hour a day later and then there's this empty kind of feeling but the thing is I understand what it is I don't equate myself with emptiness I just go oh that's right cuz because in this moment I'm not in that same voltage you know there's just an energy so you can have a great meditation and go my god I saw God it three days later you're like

oh I'm still going through a divorce and it's a bummer it that's that's this earth it's not you or me it's we're not faulted you would only be flowing you know committing a flaw if you actually expected anything otherwise our mistake is that we forget to forgive ourselves for recognizing what we've done we have a world that doesn't look like it's going to sustain it we can have sustained peace let's call it peace and happiness and joy in God but we're not always in God on earth we are ultimately but we don't always

feel like it on earth you're gonna get tickets when you're driving you know most of us don't go Thank You officer for being a part of my sustained joy you know this earth you know you you can eat your favorite food and get an upset stomach this world is is too much corrupted by the ego and the evils of consciousness so we're not wrong for not having to sustain and I'm glad I feel sustained a lot for being on earth I really feel great a lot but even that becomes tricky because a lot of people don't feel that high so it can even

become awkward to feel high when other people are not and even that can tempt us to go I better I better back off on my happiness level today you know others somebody else is gonna get irritated you know somebody else is gonna think I'm insane cuz I smile too much it's it's a weird position but I'm grateful you know even the vibes I'm teaching and when I do private sessions I'm very happy but people are often hurting I'm not happy while they're hurting but I am very happy that I can help them there's a great line in A Course in Miracles

because gratitude is one way to raise your happiness overall quo show of happiness however there's a great line in the course that says you know it would be insane for you to give thanks for trauma and and illusion and it's a really great line because I only I'm the only person I know of teacher that I've ever known of that said that do not be grateful for trauma and T teachers that you know these flippant teachers that you know they get their consciousness out of Cracker Jacks boxes you know and they tell you that they're enlightened

and they'll say very sweetly calmly always breathy because that means you're enlightened you say oh oh you had horrible you know damaging and trauma in your life and as a child well you need to give thanks for that just slap them you know just like no do not give thanks for the illusions and harms of the world what it does is invites it more what you give thanks for is your healing give thanks for your courage give thanks that you learned some anything good give thanks only for good because only

good is real why would a teacher try to convince you to give thanks for things that are not loving therefore they're not real why would I give thanks for illusion it doesn't make sense and I know I understand why teachers don't get it because you have to have a deeper consciousness to get it otherwise it helps if you're a so-called teacher to recite things that sound good but they're just not true so please don't buy into that story of giving thanks for harm you're not to give thanks for even people's abusive

behavior or that they were abusive well I guess I'm gonna give thanks you know you were abusive but I give thanks because it all somehow is magic as God's will no it's not God's will either people are acting hurt and they're hurtful and selfish that's not what I'm gonna give thanks for when you do ho upon a pony you're not going thank you god this is great I would like more of that in fact right now in a place in order I want to come back for ten lifetimes with even more abuse and trauma as a child that's not what you're

doing and hope when you say thank you you're simply saying everything that I just prayed is now complete thank you for anything I may have learned but I'm not giving thanks for the trauma I know that that may sound strange to some and contradictory to some teachers and teachings but then just choose what you want to believe but I have to throw that out there because gratitude is a big part of learning to feel more consistent happiness living in the light of God we'll come back to a list in a moment but living in the light

of God I mean that's what feeds us that's what feeds our soul happiness is not a thing you achieve really it's an effect of consciousness when you live in alignment with God happiness is going to be the natural effect again this is positive true happiness it means joy joy isn't something you just get people can get happy a certain drug or drink and what's amazing is it can bring happiness instantaneously you can have false happiness immediately and the drag is the real one takes work but that's

unfair can't we have the other it's not true but that's the way it looks on earth like the one that's real takes work it only takes work because we're addicted to having the other one you've got to say no to it the ones that are kind of flippant you got to stop eating things that stimulate a false sense of happiness drugging drinking you know doing the things and even the dating people as a form of stimulation that's all got to go it because it's a false sense of happy - I feel so much better I

mean I've seen people getting all excited you know because they're going on a date why weren't you happy just as happy before you were asked out because now something outside of myself is making me feel more beautiful attractive and so on I would sit with that and say in just a split second I would just sit and go oh I see it I'm getting excited because someone made me feel attractive hold in a moment there is no one and no thing outside of me that gives me anything I am already apparently attractive and

this is a sign of that so I'm giving thanks that I am NOT that they like me I am then datum or don't datum it won't matter because you already got the consciousness but what's nice about it is if you get the lesson you're bringing them a new person they may not like the date because you showed up awake they're like oh God you know when I asked you out you seemed needy this isn't gonna work this isn't gonna work nothing outside can make us anything that's an impossibility why because there isn't

anything outside of us and yet you know it'll feel like that sometimes so yeah all you have to do is a little mind correction who for a moment there I was thinking that you know my favorite show came on and so I was getting all excited nothing wrong with that well let me just owned it I already feel good and I'm grateful for this thing outside only has one purpose to reflect to me of what I am and what I have already if you say it gives me you're off if you say it reflects me you're on that's all you need really simple but

powerful connection you know somebody said to me you know god you're so you look so bright and happy I feel good especially this last couple of weeks by the way I was feeling really extra high these last couple of weeks but I have to say it's partly because I've committed to a raw food diet yeah it's yeah it's been raw cake batter every day for two weeks in autumn I feel great man it's true I always have cake batter I mean you know it's like like for one meal a day jism mmm

dig cake batter you know it's somebody ought to really consider that because you have to argue the idea that maybe preserving your youth and so forth maybe it comes from having enough preservatives in your food you know no I mean there's an argument to be had anyway don't take that all literally yes it's true I the last couple weeks I've been enjoying my favorite cake batter every day you know but but don't take it literally that I would like preach that to other people I mean I would try it if I were you but it's like dating though if you haven't

found the right batter it's kind of a waste of time it's gotta be though all right one your soul mate batter anyway anyway so some important principles just to remember real happiness is you don't achieve it you don't get it you don't grab it it actually is organic it sort of percolates up and it percolates bubbles up inside because I invested in it like a financial investment and it has returns if you don't invest in joy / real happiness then you don't get joy and real happiness now that's a tough line because some people say I'm always

loving I'm always forgiving but I still do I understand that so don't beat yourself up when you say I'm not feeling sustained you know cuz I'll talk about that in a sec it's this world you know one time I was really going through a very dark period for yeah for a while and dark the night of the soul and it was in my late 20s and I remember praying like what has happened where did all the good go where did all my feel where did everything go because I was like so plugged in teaching and all that I was doing but

where did it go and I heard this answer I heard this voice and it was saying don't take it personally it's just this world and I sat with that and go wow and I first of all I love spirits compassion to say blood beloved don't take it personally just because you and I'm saying this to you to everybody when you have these moments when you personalize it you know what you're saying there's something wrong with me I know that it feels like something is wrong with you but just cuz it feels like it doesn't mean it is a

feeling is a perception it's not a fact so you're feeling like something's wrong with you remind yourself what what was the voice saying to Michael again don't take it personally you don't need to take it personally but it's also saying you can't take it personally because it isn't you the real you is a glorious light when he said to me it's this world he was saying you're dealing with this duality you hold light and all of a sudden this world the wave of this world

comes in and works you over now once it does it'll beat you up illusion loss hurt limitation etc it'll beat you up and at the end of the day how much did you sustain your happiness quotient how much did you sustain and in the moment of my desperate prayer I might have been feeling out of 10 I might have been feeling at 2 but if I learn to do this properly I say how much did I sustain not what is the world gonna give me it's at the end of the day how did I do with my test on a zero to 10 I feel like a 2 and as soon as I realize it's a test I go wait a minute I can I

can raise this to a 4 or a 5 easily just by knowing this was a test and not taking it so personally I didn't even say that anything changed externally I just do this little process I still look no chequebook still what it was relationships still what it was and this is still what the outside still looks the same then how am I going to raise it from a - to anything else soon as you think that you're saying your happiness is owned by something outside of you and that's only dangerous not sometimes day it's only dangerous nobody and no thing

holds your happiness hostage but you've gotta take it back not by force not by loud words to people you took my happiness I'm taking it back yeah that's still a little bit ego inflammation what's happening really is oh my god I get it I I was allowing something outside of myself to seem like it had power and hold my happiness level but nothing's changing out if only if only the checkbook was better if only my job came back if only that's not actually what brings back our happiness that will only bring stimulation like a drug or drink or

whatever it's just addiction so we've all got to come to this place and say wait a minute real happiness would likely be more sustainable not maybe 24/7 forever but longer-lasting more durable and it's a feeling not as stimulus true happiness is like a joy that percolates up inside false happiness is something that came from the outside false happiness is often basically something that I'm getting what I want and that makes me feel happy and again this world man it just it'll keep deceiving making you think you need

things you don't need and then not giving them to you hey hey person here's what you really need oh that sounds really reasonable let me have that note oh now I'm deflated yes you are and you know what you need for that deflation something else a drug that won't work and something else that won't work and if only you could find your soulmate and if only and you end up with another cellmate and you end up with you know anything but real anything but sustainable anything but love just stuff every drugs gonna wear off

you know every one of these things paul mccartney's quote way back in the the Beatles we tried LSD days he said yeah you know I did try it and and it was extraordinary for experiencing what seems to be an altered state like expanding your mind okay well that's a fairly you know kind of almost an endorsement cuz he said it kind of expands the mind he said but it's like taking an aspirin when you don't have a headache and that's very powerful because he didn't just say don't do it he said you don't have a headache

meaning you don't need it to expand your mind but you also don't need people a partner to feel loved to feel lovable if you can't feel lovable at all you're only gonna pretend to feel level but when someone seems to like you and clearly that's an ego stroke you're lovable really you know I mean people people rush into affairs as long as someone makes them feel better than the last person you know the every movies made you know my husband my partner they ignore me they don't they don't tell me they love me anymore they

never buy me flowers oh well I'll buy you flowers of course you will because there's something you want stay out of my garden you know you're not this this this is not a space for you I need to understand my love ability I need to understand my value when I've got that I'm going to likely attract people of that higher you know caliber so the first thing if we're talking about let's say seven keys to joy I could I could give you twenty and they're all a little overlapping but to really try to pare it down the first

thing is know the difference between real happiness and false if you don't know the difference then what's going to be the point of any other keys to happiness and when I'm talking about happiness you know I'm referring to real happiness meaning joy so you have to know the difference between the the real thing and the false thing including at any form of self satisfaction any form of self inflation any form of ego know the difference between the real and the false the real is more sustained the Falls

tends to pass away the false can be quickly achieved they really can't you can buy they say money can't buy you love you can buy happiness can be bought because it's a false happiness all you need is a little stimulus and you're gonna think you're happy you're happy pill you're happy whatever it happens to be but it isn't real so how do I get to know the real thing and it's you know number two here stop trying to get it from others really stop trying to get it from others when we allow other people to seem to hold the key to our happiness

it's not gonna open a good door it's it's it's going to crash in some way and that's why so many of us even in romantic relationships crash and just so devastated jobs you think you're devastated because you got fired but deep down it really hurts something inside you know what's wrong with me why did I get fired it's like you personalize it and then you know on the other side you could right then dial like the Batphone you know to god god guess what I got fired well exactly no what do you mean exactly god I got fired

help me this is a drag God would say what do you mean well I got fired really I there must have been some miscommunication God would say I thought that subconsciously you kept telling me you didn't like your job so we helped you get rid of it haven't you been looking for a souls purpose no I didn't know that ignorance is no excuse that's the kind of conversation you would have it doesn't go very far so the the problem is stop trying to give get it from others but I want to say this much when you try to

get happiness from others you know it's a human thing that we do sometimes but I will say one reason you try to get it from others is to shirk responsibility that's that is it you try to shirk responsibility because if I don't totally know and another reason mind you is you actually could believe you don't deserve happiness you can actually think most people do that you don't deserve real happy so what you do is hire it through somebody else but the other item I was saying as to why we would go their

direction of giving other people this seeming power is shirking responsibility and the way that manifests is kind of like well I'm not entirely sure that this is gonna work if I do such-and-such to become happier so if I make it look like it was up to someone else and it doesn't work I can blame them so I get into a relationship where I'm not whole owning my own value and I'm depending on you I mean you you await I'm gonna take notes you told me what again I'm pretty okay and and I'm intelligent oh I like you you know and you're you're making

this contract with somebody to make you feel what you don't feel inside but you're doing it you have an agenda you want them to be what you don't believe you are yourself so that when it crashes and it will I knew it and it was them and I've seen this is very subtle sometimes I've seen this in my life even in in in the workplace I've seen times when I'm just gonna make up an example it's not a real one but it could be any number of real ones for me if I could think of right now but it's like I could say deep down I had to say

I write a new book and I say I'm not sure of the title so I might ask some friends to pick a title they pick a title it doesn't sell well that's a way of me not owning I should have been asking for the title I should have been part of that we shirk responsibilities in there again that's just a made-up example but I've seen subtleties like that I've seen that happen where somebody what movie do you want to see oh let's watch that one and the movies terrible I don't know why you picked this movie

and you know what they should say cuz you unpicked it you played a part I didn't know I lifted up to you when I left it up to you that was a decision I participated so people like to shirk responsibility the third step creating happiness a key to happiness obviously God is the source of happiness God really I'm not trying to sound like hyper like religious here it's just a truth it's a fact God is the source of our happiness if I keep a law aligned if my my emotions and my thoughts are kept in alignment with God

I said joy or real happiness percolates up as an effect to remember I said it's an effect effect of what connection I feel close to God so there's this feeling and it percolates up it's a natural organic like wow you know just similar in analogy your favorite flower oh you know there's that response the flower it's it's the perfume the scent of the flower there's a response you look at a rainbow whoa there's an effect because you're seeing something beautiful but it's God so it's far more effective it's it's how many times more

than a rose a sunset or whatever a rainbow you can't say a trillion because it's immeasurable but when we choose to live in conjunction congruence with God's peace the light of God the presence of God it's true this thing happens and it is a peace that surpasses a happiness that surpasses understanding because technically I should be miserable right now I just filed for divorce I just lost my job and yet I prayed I felt upset but I prayed and I'm feeling somehow okay and it's funny because this world will tell you

something's wrong with you if you're not worrying enough if you're not upset stressed or whatever in enough because it is that way and it wants you to be part of that game when we Center in God and live in the light something just takes you know takes over and it's just this amazing it's a presence that is kind of expand pensive and the next point it's kind of like the word karma you know you take responsibility if you want happiness the fourth key take responsibility meaning you reap what you sow if you want more

happiness that you want to sow more happy to reap it put it into the life well I did III got new friends and they're still not giving me happiness that's not what I mean because you're talking about outside reap in consciousness plant the seeds of of joy connection from God but there's some other things which I'll name in a second but try to remember that happiness is karmic meaning it's an effect did you create it you have to have a cause for it so let's go item 5 just expounding on for now if you want more happiness plant

the happiness yes reap so and all that but are you living a life that would bring an effective happiness for example do you develop soulmate relationships are you living your soul's purpose anything I do to live out of alignment is going to actually exhaust my happiness level you know so there's you know if living your soul's purpose having and you know being in touch with your soul's purpose actually does bring more often happiness I mean that's how it feels for me for me personally if someone put a microphone to me and said

you know tell us quickly you spontaneously how come how come you're often very happy some of the first answers would be a while first of all I'm living in congruence with my soul's purpose as opposed to countering it that helps I also feel like I live a life of forgiveness that helps I also again reap what you sow I plant seeds of good karma you know I'm a helpful person I try to be helpful and loving and so on so all of those things must play a part they must I know that because I don't sit around doing happiness mantras and

meditations every day I really don't because it's organic if I don't plant those seeds it won't come up as often that's why I use the word you know a minute ago responsibility so happiness has to have a cause you got to step in and you know do the souls purpose and and develop soulmate kinds of relationships and the next item live authentically but also live in balance so my lifestyle might be any of us my lifestyle will add to the the sowing you know reaping and sowing or it'll take away from so how is your life stuff if

I'm living in congruent if I'm living out of alignment how would I expect to be happy now I don't mean a life of alignment always getting what you want I'm not talking about external but I am talking about am i living authentically as much as possible Here I am no facades no games you know as best as possible communication I don't you know I think some people overly communicate because they take it to a fault you know to another degree another level but you know another swinging the pendulum the other way but are you somewhat authentic

see if I live in congruent if I'm gay and I'm trying to live straight that's an in congruence I'm not judging either one all I know is I'm not being true to myself I can't be truly happy because who's the I that's gonna be happy well me who what which me the straight one that isn't straight it's exhausting all of our misalignments when you hear you know an author that says be impeccable with your word it doesn't just mean this thing your words and people make a

religion out of being impeccable with their words now man impeccable meaning inside out when I say on this on this when I say I'm that I'm that I'm gay I'm straight and I'm not saying you have to get caught up in labels even but the point is you can even say that I'm actually both I'm this I'm that you know because I'm open it's okay to even not have a little constricted label but then at least know that that's the truth for you but who are you are you you know are you overly creating a facade whether it's

cosmetically or whether it's behaviorally or you know any kind of little games you play who are you really if you struggle with with sadness I don't think you need to obsess on the sadness but I think it's okay to say sometimes I get sad you know it's okay instead of I'm the healer and I healing I'm never needing any issues to be looked at ever again because I'm perfect and whole okay as long as that's true through and through if that's true but there's nothing wrong with you being so transparent that you can say you know

it's a funny thing I use this healing technique that I developed because if you say I developed a healing technique that works once in a while yet how well is that gonna go over oh great you should call it occasional healing technique you know people aren't going to pay for that in it so you have to in this the world you know when you're a healer teacher whatever you sort of have to live to certain airs you know but I think it's fine to say I do have a healing technique it is amazing it works

just amazing miracles and it's a funny thing because sometimes I'm still sad I practice forgiveness I wrote a book on forgiveness I wear shirt since I'm a forgiver and whatever great but you know what's funny about that is sometimes I still get triggered see I like that teacher because you're gonna tell me you sometimes get triggered you're gonna tell me what you do about it how it pulls you back to Center I want that tell me you never have any of that happen it seems strange it's a possibility I'm gonna wonder why you

haven't ascended yet but still you know I think it's amazing when we can be somewhat transparent again I'm not talking about the pendulum swinging the other direction I don't think you have to sit your five-year-old and down and go you know mommy's sad a lot because of what daddy did are you no I don't think that's appropriate but just honest loving transparency and last but not least for today seven forgiveness forgiveness sounds like something more like I gotta forgive forgiveness is so

miraculous it's almost impossible to put it in words what it actually does it shifts consciousness it puts you out of a world of victimization and into a world of miracle like a miracle bubble it you enter a space you really do you actually enter an altered state it's it's almost like you're you're in some time warp and that's why a lot of people that have had miracles happen they describe time seem to like start going slowly and I had time to maneuver out of this mistake this accident didn't happen or this object was falling and all of a

sudden it was like slow motion I had time to move which everybody witnessing said it was impossible it's like that it's how did that happen lots of it's people scratching their the the people that the logical people the three-dimensional people go that that's impossible it isn't impossible because in the miracle consciousness you're in the world of doing the impossible full point because it's outside of this linear world of what's possible you're into the realm of supernatural anything can

happen time I'm in a time warp I can go back theoretically you could go back and change the past as well as the future because you're in a state of consciousness changing in its consciousness that creates that world so forgiveness is is huge it's um in a way it grounds you because you're having that moment of authenticity like I'm struggling with something which is valuable but then you're showing a willingness for it to change I'm struggling with finances but I'm willing

for it to change whatever I'm not feeling prosperous whatever happens you would happens to be I'm going to shift consciousness and then a new cause happens which means a new effect happens I'm in a new level of causation and when I'm in America bubble of meaning a choice to forgive I'm in God consciousness more than I was when I'm in God consciousness I'm in the ultimate cause of causes it's going to have an effect and God's going to say I know I know what you think you want is a miracle to pay the bill or to have

healing of some kind but what's really cool you're gonna get that but what's really cool and I want you to get used to thinking it's really cool is the happiness you're gonna feel people have forgotten and listen to this carefully first they have forgotten God actually wants you to be happy not it might happen I'm saying God which is all-powerful wants you to be happy so when you're making decisions that don't resonate congruently with with happiness you're not doing God's will why would then the effect be happiness God wants

me to be happy I don't have to go god please because you know I'm not really that bad you don't need to convince God any of you that you would even talk about isn't the ultimate you that God already sees so God want you to be happy happiness happy but I want to take it one more step what if and it is true what if you are the happiness of God we're actually the love of God God doesn't just love us because as soon as you think God is over here loving me over here then it does leak in a possibility that today it might not what

if you are the love of God you can't you can't extract it you can't pull it away I am the love of God I thought he was having to do and I thought I had to be perfect and improve myself I I thought it man somebody else told me from their religion I have to incarnate and carnate five hundred and thirty more times before I'm holy you know this is nice shortcut baby I'm already there now all I need to do is my best to live in alignment with that you can't say oh I'm the happiness of God so sky's the limit I'm gonna just abuse and myself and

others if you understand that you are the love of God you'll start acting like it when people want to push you into judgments of various kinds you just won't hear it hear of it it's like it's not an option and they you know they might think well we have to push you a little more to get you to react and get you to be judgmental and they realize that there's nothing that seems to get you because you are living in a different state of mind and it's not that you're always perfect but as soon as those things come

soon as those people those words come you know how to switch them in your mind not today I'm living in the light of God I am the light of God and so I'm living in the light of God this feels pretty cool wow this is kind of nice and as a human being I can say I do this a lot but there are moments when I think wow but still pushing against all these other things sometimes you're the only one in the room who's saying sometimes you're the only person in the family who says well let's look at that differently and you're you know you're gonna get

badgered for being that voice of reason so onward Christian soldiers as they used to say it's like whatever now you know I've mentioned before the old saying PT Barnum said when they're running you out of town just make it look like you're leading a parade so when you're looking like the insane one you know oh well you know look at them they're all holier-than-thou even that's gonna hurt your feelings because you're trying to just be loving and they're picking on you over it family friends whatever place workplace

I've had it in all those but you you know just recognize that - is a test they're just trying they tried other things that didn't work they're trying that now shame you guilt - you think you're holier and you know one thing that helps is you can say instead of yes I am what you can say what you can say is actually all the things you guys are saying it's really it's really testing me but I'm doing my work see that's okay because it acknowledges I am human and I'm going through the same test you are but you didn't

overly state the truth which is I just have a different answer than you do God's the question God's the answer and I hear only that answer that's what Jesus would be saying I heard the same temptations you did I heard all the same doubts and fears I did I just chose a different answer Wow you know that's darn powerful I am the love of God I am the peace of God I am the happiness of God and forgiveness helps reason that you know sustain that or or return me to that consciousness one last thing on

that though forgiveness does do it but some people say but I forgave and I still don't feel more happiness that's okay one reason could be you didn't authentically forgive it is possible you know you okay fine I forgive you you might not have offended now if I don't feel forgiveness if Michael and their dad right now has struggled with something and I'm not feeling happy I'm just irritated whatever non happy would be and non happy means anything that isn't happiness so irritated mildly or majorly enraged sad broken whatever it

is not happy I would sit and say to myself I'm not feeling happy I must have allowed a different answer to leak in who did I did what are you gonna do about I who did that would make a different choice alright so I'm not sure what to forgive because you don't have to know all I know is I must not have forgiven something or I would be feeling better so all right I don't know what it is perhaps but I'm still whatever it is I have the power to say I'm owning a choice and I'm surrendering it and choosing forgiveness I can do

that or if I know what it is feel like I know it is do it there but I'm gonna practice forgiveness great now I'm going okay I feel a shift quite often like most of the time it'll be so bizarre nothing else happened in the last two minutes five minutes two hours that would have changed it and I feel peace then you know likely you chose authentic forgiveness but if still not I would only caution you with this sit and just say to yourself I guess I'm not yet ready to release the pain of this event because sometimes unhurt I'm just so

hurt even if I say only money by me whom I forgive thee there's a part of me that still hurt and what would I do with that shame myself that's not what I would do to a five-year-old therefore it's not what I should do to myself I would say wow that probably then heard a lot more than you thought it apparently yeah all right let's take some time then maybe we'll work with someone else to do a support prayer oh that would be nice or maybe we just need to sit in a bubble bath and kind of relax and shift the energy of the of the

moment maybe we need to cry maybe we need to whatever it is just allow a non-judgmental approach to the fact that I'm still feeling some pain when I get that the chances are just seeing that I might have been holding paint already start shifting my consciousness I don't know if you've had that but you probably have without knowing it yes okay yesterday you know as soon as I owned it it starts shifting but even if I didn't you know feel a shift what's nice is I remind myself this too shall pass and that is coming how could it not come if

it's Who I am so when I'm done identifying with a different self called pain the other self will come through and I'm just owning that I played a part in that and I'm not being harsh on myself about it that's how to deal with it so in closing aver if you didn't hear any of those seven and if you didn't hear the rest of the talking you only get this this will sustain you hugely learn to ask yourself one or a couple of simple questions when you want to know I want to be more happy or I'm not feeling

happy so how do I become happy whatever it is ask yourself some simple questions what one of them is what do I want to come from this anytime that I'm making a decision the bottom line is if it's an ego based goal I'm going to end up without happiness if it's a god based goal I'm going to end up with happiness so I shouldn't could ask myself what do I want to come from this in other words test yourself before you even get into it I'm going out on this date I could ask myself before but even after the fact I get home in them

why don't I feel happier what is it you wanted from that date because I'm saying if you don't feel happiness it means you were relying either on keeping you from happiness or you were thinking they were going to give you happiness either one is a sabotage of Course in Miracles says do you want to be right or do you want to be happy and a lot of linear course students think it means do you want to be right in every argument or happy you have to give up the right to be you know right and and be happy and that's actually true but

it's bigger than that do I want to be right or do I want to be happy means also do you want to be right that your agenda in any decision you make in your life is the right agenda and you'll know it's not if you're not happy it's all you have to know no no I think I'll take happiness for twenty Alec you know let me you know like let's try something else let's not choose false happiness so what do I want to come from this you know do I want to be right do I want to be happy you can also ask it when I say what what do I have kind of behind this

what do I want to come from this you can also ask yourself I have a goal here I want happiness then ask myself is there any ego based satisfaction going on here if it is it's the false sense of happiness I'm having an argument with somebody then I want it to resolve a certain way I'd be so happy if you'd finally get it we think and that's an example do want to be right or do you want to be happy not just right in the argument the right the right one the who was the most correct it means do you want to be right in thinking that being

the winner of an argument is gonna bring happiness cuz it's not gonna do it or do you want to be happy learn to ask questions that should answer with yes to happiness that's all what do I want to come from this situation happiness true happiness an argument you're even a mediator for two people people say to me how do how do you take an argument that was going on for hours weeks months years and resolve it in minutes because I do because I can ask not let's fix let's fix you know and right and wrong I just simply an

intention where's the happiness this person needs to be heard I know that but I learned that because I said where's the happiness and they believe right now for now it's being heard it's deeper than that but that's what they think for now so I'll navigate a conversation that sometimes will give them bread crumbs as long as we keep going further to the goal I'm not going to give bread crumbs and say well that's it that'll be a hundred dollars or whatever I can't I can't give bread crumbs when I

know that there's more waiting so bread crumbs as long as they're willing to take those like the little birdies you know and let's go come on this is the direction we want to go that's unsafe here's some crumbs come out this way and that's the goal happiness what do I want to come from this a conversation that seems like it has no ending that's why Jesus says when people ask for your coat give him your shirt as well he says in of course in miracles' he reiterates what I meant was when people are invested and they want

to get something from you show them it doesn't matter you're not invested we did a talk a couple weeks ago the difference between attachment detachment and non attachment show them it doesn't matter show them that you get it and it doesn't mean give them something that would harm you if somebody says I really need a car well that must be guidance oh yeah I guess here's my keys it doesn't mean now you're walking home it doesn't mean you're gonna do something that would harm them or yourself in any way but you do learn to say attachments they

don't matter so if someone says I want you to apologize first okay humans don't do that no you first no you first what are you five you know like you know my God's greater than your God like you know it's kind of silly instead if I'm not attached what do I want to come from this happiness and I'm not attached to how that's gonna happen well then you apologize first no problem really sorry about that in fact I'm sorry that that happened and it wasn't my intention I'm really sorry

that we you know I can do it five times because there's not an attachment to it and not only is there not an attachment I love you and you're a part of me so by my saying okay my goal is not enabling your stuff even if you're a control freak who says no I insist that you apologize first sometimes you're enabling them by doing that and if it's too extreme to enabling I might say no to that only if I know it's the greatest good to not enable them but most of the time I would say yes no problem because most of the time

the ego doesn't know what to do with reasonable people it's just like wait what what what do you mean and then it'll go into their head and make them go you must be up to something you know it's gonna corrupt even even reasonable answers it's gonna try to corrupt it and you know you just they can feel a shift in you when your agendas your goals they all shift it all starts to and there we're back to Moses the Red Sea is all stuff of this world so this is congruent with our other previous talks attachment detachment long attachment it's

connected to so many other talks prayer talks about forgiveness and talks about joy versus happiness what we're looking for is joy but it's not something you find it's something you you plant seeds of if I start living the God life live congruently balanced and in congruence with love it's a natural effect it just kind of you know it just kind of starts happening I start feeling it kind of percolates up and it's to me it's some beautiful astounding in some ways and sometimes I do sit and think wow you know for no reason whatsoever

and especially moments when there was a struggle a little prayer forgiveness ho'oponopono prayer and whatever else it's all of a sudden like for no known reason outside there's a shift and that's why they're called miracles because they seem so supernatural and they are they seem supernatural but they're actually not super not they're natural but people who live in the seeming nature of life ego and limitation think of these things as supernatural but they're actually natural they should

be happening all the time Jesus tells us when you're not experiencing miracles there's a problem you should be having them all the time it you should just be in the living consciousness of miracle and you're not bad for not but it does mean you've made poor choices so would you like to shift that I don't know would you like to be happy yes okay let's go with that see we can't just say do you want to be enlightened some people well what does that mean use even simplistic terms do you would you like to be happy yes it's only one way to get

there forgiveness in one word it's these other things I named but it's forgiveness you have to shift non happiness to the happiness to sustain it just do these other things know the difference from false happiness and true happiness no live in the light of God no do things that bring you happiness that evoke that happiness souls purpose and like I said forgiveness okay let's take a few centering breaths please just a quieting a drawing into your Center feel light enough to feel kind of like you're floating you're you're really

basking you're in this nice wave of peace neutral in a sense a healthy neutrality centered quiet remembering that when you feel happy you never have to actually analyze or know what brought it about but giving thanks anchors it it makes it real now but it also magnifies it tomorrow but you don't have to know only know this if you're happy you had to have planted the seeds of happiness and so you really can be grateful for that look back any time that comes to mind when you really truly felt happy it could be today or ten years ago a time when you were happy

just see how you felt engine wise how you felt in your interactions just observe and name a few things quietly in your mind maybe you felt lighter less stressed you felt communicative you smiled more all kinds of different words to describe and whether you have cognitive memory or not as to what brought it about is not important but it is important to own that it was righteous that you felt this way somehow you did right but it's a good chance that at that time in your life you might have been doing some of the items on the list of seven were you

maybe being more prayerful or is it possible that you were more congruent your soul's purpose you are kind of creating healthiness you're practicing prosperity forgiveness again you don't have to remember but just know you had to have been doing some of the things on this checklist and be grateful that you did and then commit to doing it more often and then reflect to anytime that comes to mind hopefully recently where you felt unhappy in any form stressed scared sad even just financial lack not happy

reflect in any time in your life a lack of happiness it could be isolated to a relationship or a job or to all of the things in your life whatever it is let it be unhappy and then let's ask ourselves whatever the topic was is there a possibility that I had an external agenda related to that thing that didn't get met just try it or have I ever been unhappy in a communication a conversation relationship because I wasn't getting what I wanted a job because I didn't get what I wanted but in God I would likely have not wanted or needed anything from anybody

so what caused my unhappiness they didn't give me or because I was already off-center thinking that I missed something that they were gonna give me I was off that I missed it and I was off that they were gonna give it to me so my unhappiness is a digression so I choose responsibility I may have given power to things that have no power I'm the one with the power and the power to choose I choose in this moment any of these seeds that were planted to the contrary of love any of these threads these courts created with people or

events that would tug and pull on me taking the off center making me fight to become happier and it can't result in happiness any such things I bid you farewell I'm sorry for investing poorly I'm sorry for not valuing myself more and it's okay to say oops because that's what I mean by sorry it doesn't mean I'm a sorry soul it means oops goodbye God is my source of happiness joy so I'm choosing God as my guide in this situation god I don't know what to do with this job situated I don't know what to do with this health situation I

shown me guide me what I do know is not only am i looking for or longing for happiness I'm choosing it and I have the power to choose it and I breathed that in even one sparkle of real happiness will take root and start bringing me greater happiness even around the topic that I just brought to the altar for healing so good bye to the contrary become the nothing you are it's so funny I can see how I might have been devastated being invested into nothingness and now I can have the real thing peace happiness here the power of

the Christ saying on the waters peace waters be still be still the storm be still inside of me to the power of Christ that I am says peace be still chill lighten up let's be happy but I don't know how stop doing things that don't bring you happiness including undervaluing yourself including doing things in expecting outside to bring you something you are as God created you you are gods happiness how could you be lacking it that affirmed the God lacks and it doesn't lack happiness so we close by

imagining finally these sparkles of light coming down from the heavens entering through our crown and filling our body and outside our body wrapping a swirling gently around and just bathing us but imagine it's it's like a drug that makes you giggle this these sparkles of love and light they melt away stuff to the contrary tensions and they just make us giggle they make us feel it's okay we've all become so aged bike the contrary be like children be like children don't just sit smile and when you walk sometimes twirl do things

that kids do skip lighten up see ourselves doing that now so we plant that in our minds it doesn't matter what you've done to your mind out of your soul it doesn't matter what you think you've done to not be childlike innocent and happy just choose otherwise feel like you're always being tickled and it makes you laugh and smile a little bit every particle of the universe tickles my fancy and it feels good to be me again and so it is good all right so just stretch out a little bit kind of take a moment to

integrate