My Commitment to Staying Happy

Happier and Freer

All my life I have been helping myself become a happier and freer being. And I know you can too if you are not already there. I have written this book to share some of the tricks that I have learned in a straightforward and effective way. From early on in life, I noticed how some people around me also gradually became a little bit happier and freer with time. Some times, I experience I have an impact, my thoughts, ideas, energy and advice seem to ring true to others; some times, I see from a distance that our lives follow similar paths and that we are bound to meet again, perhaps just to realize the path we have in common. At other times, I experience very clearly that when I or other people chose something that is true to them, their lives seem to flow beautifully and when we are somewhere we don’t want to be, life seems to be more difficult to deal with. Once we take responsibility for our life with all its messy feelings, emotions, thoughts and experiences, we become freer and happier, because once you are aware of something you can not be a victim of it.

Dharma and Purpose

A few years back, I had a conversation with myself as I was evaluating how my life was going. Being honest with myself, I realized it was time I figured out my purpose for being here in the world. The yogis call this your Dharma. This was at a time in my life where I had let go of a relationship that wasn’t serving me nor bringing out the best of what I can be. So I asked the universe, hey what is at the core of who I am? What can I do to make sure I am the best version of who I am? You’d think that this wouldn’t be such a hard thing to figure out or even a question that comes naturally. Don’t we all know what our best qualities are? Anyway, that was the logical approach I took to this, because the universe didn’t exactly give me an answer in English.

So I asked the question in a different way. What is it that I just naturally do that flows in me and makes everything seem to flow a bit better? And then suddenly it was clear to me. My purpose is to bring or inspire joy and love to the world around me.  I love contributing to a collective sense of joy and harmony. It is what I naturally do when I feel good, or in other words, I do that best when I myself is happy and feel free to be who I am. And my most common method is to smile and be present, which I have expanded to laughter, connection and light conversation. So in order to follow my Dharma, I have to be committed to staying happy. And that is a commitment I have been happy with ever since! This has meant I have had to say no to situations and relationships that didn’t support my well-being, but it has also meant that I have improved my own ability to support myself a thousandfold.

Now I am broadening my commitment to include reaching out to more people with my smiles, laughter and joy, through my writing. I have always been a writer and it is so great for me now to combine the two: my joy of writing and my broadcast of joy.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Peace Maker, Nonviolence Communicator 1869-1948