Happiness is empowered. And it’s a journey…
Happiness is a journey, not a destination. – Alfred D. Souza
On this Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), I’m remembering my past visit to New Orleans around Mardi Gras celebrations. And these days I’m celebrating how I live life so differently. And in one big way, is how I view happiness. You too?
And one smaller way is how I eat and bake healthy… as proof, here are some healthy whole wheat beignets with a light dusting of powdered sugar compared to those heavy-handed sugar days.
But since those trying earlier years, I’ve come to know that happiness comes from a different deeper lens in the thoughts today. And happiness is in your ability to control, changing arising and spinning dysfunctional ego mind thoughts from the past.
In the daily moments, happiness is searching for and magnifying past happy experiences. For me, that’s recalling birthday parties and cakes. And I have even more photos as evidence (but I’ll spare you those this time). 😉
And the happy, good memories are not usually what the mind actually serve up in the messy thoughts that a busy day can bring. That’s anything but happiness. So for happiness, it’s good to be mindful of these specific thoughts:
Past thoughts. Consciously be aware of re-framing the bad memories and negative repeated tapes that interruptingly come up in the day. And these thoughts crowd out the happy ones. So it’s often necessary to rewrite your present thoughts of the past so you can keep them in the past…
Because your today’s happiness depends on that…
And your happiness depends on what version of thoughts you want to magnify today.
The mind often likes to serve up what we didn’t get that others got. And in those past dysfunctional areas dwelling in the present, keeps us playing small in our lives. Even decades later.
Like, I remember a few daily childhood situations where I wasn’t put first by others. Because that’s what the brain does in the present moment. The brain doesn’t pull up memories like all the years of having celebrational cake for birthdays and throwing fun birthday parties.
So to better get out of that fast (think fast!), we can either think of better past memories. Or we can focus on the present… And in this moment…well, I’m writing but you’re doing what you’re doing. So having a good standby conscious thought ready to replace the bad thoughts is what you want.
And that’s why as a reminder, gratitude is so important. Because you can always be thankful and replace negative thoughts with appreciation, and that can be the maze out of the fuzzy mind on any given day.
Or putting love on yourself: “I am loved.” That’s a post-it note worth keeping around! 💌
Remember to focus on what helps you out completely, not what soothes the same hurts time and time again like a band-aid.
Heal the hurt and then rewrite what is served up. Healing is found in the re-write thoughts and not the re-living of the same past storyline that happened many decades ago. You already suffered once from the situation, which was more than enough.
And today, it’s not physically hurting you unless you allow your thoughts to keep going there in the same way.
Present thoughts. In this moment and today, you can apply wisdom knowing what’s up vs. what’s down (right or wrong as best you know). And every day there’s an opportunity for wrong to creep in.
…Stop the madness! Go with your gut-feeling thoughts and check in with your heart that guides in whispers. Is what you’re thinking and feeling, loving? … and to you?
And that again takes knowing what your right and wrongs are, so you do have to noodle them out some.
Sometimes noodling takes up mind space or sleep, but they’re worth the short time because you don’t want to be caught deer in the headlights without knowing your thoughts and how to respond in certain life situations. So you save time in the long-run.
You do want your boundaries honored, especially with others.
Others will try to cross over your boundaries. And don’t let that bother you. We’re all imperfect (and some of us try more than others). All you can count on is yourself.
And for the future thoughts… Uncertainty is certain for everyone, so be happy today.
Worry is optional. Use worry to prepare and write out potential answers and solutions. Noodle out. And then forget about it.
Other than that, worry produces nothing.
And anxiety is the same. …I get it. I’m a Vata. The anxious symptoms are not something you can control the onset of. And you try to manage best each time in life’s sticky situations and triggers. But use those opportunities to rewrite how you handle your anxious symptoms.
We first developed anxiety and panic in our childhood pasts where we first felt anxieties about out of our control situations (like 90% of the time). And if not careful they become wound thoughts.
And if you’re primarily a Pitta, you’re not off the hook either 😊…maybe you deal with anger issues still; and Kaphas, hang onto clinging issues.
And since we have earth, wind, and fire in us (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha), we can express any of those counterproductive ways at any time.
So don’t let your ego think you have it better or worse than anyone else. Rewrite those “better than others” thoughts as practice. That’s another sour ego mind trick.
Our happiness is in our wisdom (and maybe knowledge applied from above). It’s in what we do today in our thoughts and redesign how we want to think and be.
And if you want to operate in more daily wisdom, I can’t think of a better source than seeking Biblical wisdom (like that in Psalms/Proverbs and in the New Testament). If you weren’t taught along the way like so many of us, you have this resource that is reliable and relevant.
And even better, develop the fruits of the spirit that include kindness, goodness, patience, self-control, peace, joy, and love. And love yourself first. That could be your guiding mantra this week 💚💛💜
Did you know you could listen to these snack blog posts in usually under 10 minutes?
Easy Healthy Baked Beignets
Ingredients
- whole wheat flour
- milk of choice
- neutral oil
- instant yeast
- pinch of salt
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Mix ingredients.
- Form baking dough (more like bread than cake)
- Bake until golden to deep brown.
- Let cool and dust a little powdered sugar on tops.