The precise moment of impact during self discovery, that's the stuff, that's the real McCoy. It's the feeling of amazement and peace, like you're standing in a lush field of brilliant yellow flowers that seem to endlessly blanket the horizon. A warm summer breeze brushes your cheek. You look up to see clouds clearing and the crystal clear blue sky being revealed so reverently that you stand in awe. What once seemed too distant and out of reach, like the frustration of something being on the tip of your tongue or just beyond your fingertips is now before you in all it's glory. You connect the dots and say, "Aha I get it" and suddenly you're catapulted further along your path to bliss, happiness & joy.
The beauty of this moment is that you couldn't go back to retrieve the murky waters of confusion even if you wanted. The purity of the current vision washes over all of that, dissolving the mighty rock once thought impossible to get passed. It's akin to when you are in excruciating pain from a bad tooth ache, the moment the pain is relieved, whether it's Advil, Ativan, or a darn good mediation, the pain ends and the bliss begins. We don't remember the pain only the blessed joy of being struggle free. The smile is euphoric.
So how do we keep that loving feeling intact?
There are 2 easy tips to remember to activate joy:
1. Forgive your past, present and future.
If you're going to delve into the past, retrieve a happy moment. Close your eyes and scan back to calm, serene, loving moments. Anchor those in the present. Let them wash over you as encouragement to activate joy in the present. Leave the disappointments behind, let them fade, dissolve and disappear...come to an end point. Guilt and worry serve no one and trigger unnecessary stress. Learn the valuable lesson of the past experience and carry that forward to better inform your present situation.
Past painful memories only create a disturbance in your current energy field when you bring them into the present moment and charge them with a negative emotion, rather than heal them with forgiveness and compassion, positive emotions based in love.
The same is true when we have a goal or intention that we desire to fulfill. Fear, a negative emotion, only arises when we charge that future desire with a negative outcome. This automatically causes a block to achieving that desire by mis-aligning it with a negative experience. All an illusion, as it hasn't even happened, yet now a pathway has been created for it to happen. So if you're looking down the path to a future desire and it's been charged with an undesirable outcome, you stand still, certainly not wanting to move forward down the path to a negative outcome. Stay grounded in the present. Simply allow and give yourself permission to trust that your current choices and decisions will produce an outcome that's for your highest good and the highest good for all concerned. When the canvas is blank, why not paint something lovely.
Once you forgive yourself and others for the past you've now made more room for positive experiences in the present and future.
You are free.
2. Be gentle with yourself, slow and steady wins the race.
When a negative thought or emotion arises, simply breathe and say, "Cancel cancel, erase erase. I now cancel that thought an replace it with the following positive affirmation of my true Divine desires." Then state the attributes and characteristics based in love that you desire, "____________________." Finishing with, "Thank you for helping me focus my thoughts completely on joy and the desire to be connected to divine love. I am so grateful that my needs are so carefully addressed-instantly!" (Doreen Virtue affirmation)
You can undo and cancel the effects of negativity in an instant by monitoring your thoughts and shifting your vision toward joy. Most importantly, you begin to relieve stress which clears the path ahead for more movement in the direction that you desire. Any step you take towards positive action, no matter how small, will help you see options that you may not have noticed before. Take small bites, enjoy every morsel. There's no rush. Breath and feel that warm breeze brush across your cheek.
The moment of discovery is an incredible gem that strikes a cord down to the depths of our soul. As if you found the sweet caramel center. Struck gold. As Eckhart Tolle from THE POWER OF NOW would say,
“The past has no power over the present moment.”
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” (A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose)
Savor the beautiful moments in life as they come to greet us in the present moment. Each and every time we appreciate a happy moment, it sends our Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual bodies a hallelujah.. praise god gush and lovely rush activation of joy. Really enjoy it, really savor the power of the bountiful now. You'll be savoring it, well, forever. How many times do we get to savor something forever? Make each day a good one. When you string all these moments together, you'll be looking up at that clear blue sky mouth agape saying, " Wow this is what being happy means." Then smile and walk forward with a little more pep in your step knowing there's even more joy to come.
