-- Orson Bean
Unhappiness doesn't just happen. We make it happen. We do unhappiness. How? By how we focus our attention. By focusing upon what we don't like, on what we find negative or lacking, we conjure up internal storm clouds of unhappiness. Doing unhappiness is tough mental work!
It begins with judging. We awaken. The world is as it is. For some reason, though, we feel that it is our role to judge the world and project upon it how we think it should be. If it's raining, it should be sunny dammit, and so we become unhappy. If lying in bed next to us is an imperfect person, they should be smarter, richer, prettier, better, or at least they should appreciate us more! We should all over ourselves and the world all the time, and all it does is increase our unhappiness!
The moment you stop judging, condemning, and shoulding, you start undoing unhappiness. You don't need to repeat positive affirmations. You don't need to visualize a perfect world. You don't need to channel disembodied beings of light or believe that Jesus died for your sins. Just accept what is.
Acceptance is the great slayer of the dragon of unhappiness. Or for you techie types, acceptance is the reset button that returns your mind to its original, factory setting -- a natural state of happiness. Out of acceptance grows appreciation. Once you quit arguing with reality, you begin to see that it is pretty damn cool! The rain brings the flowers, the person lying in bed next to you gets up and makes some kick ass blueberry pancakes.
Flowers and pancakes are great, but they're merely icing on the cake. True happiness begins within. Quit doing unhappiness, and lo and behold, happiness is all that's left. You happy. Or if you want to get real Zen about it -- no you, just happy. Either way, unhappy no more.
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