Finding
Happiness
“The
spiritual path is not about finding happiness and love: it is about
developing stamina and resilience. It is about recognizing the truth
and standing for principles. From truth comes the capacity to love
with courage. Happiness is the result of not compromising your
values, of making choices with courage—ones that do not betray your
inner guidance. You don't 'find' happiness; you generate it from the
essence of who and what you are.”
Caroline
Myss (Caroline's Blog: “What is the Purpose of Spirituality?”)
There
is a blog post written by Caroline Myss about “calling” that I
recommend. I spent a great deal of my young and middle years
wondering what my “calling” might be, and I know other young
people who wonder the same thing. There is some inner urge to “be
all that you can be,” and a feeling that there is some grand thing
that is yours alone to offer, but knowing exactly what that is seems just out
of reach. There is the sense that if I could just discover my
calling, I would be happy and fulfilled for the rest of my life.
Myss instructs us to never “seek” our calling. If you're working
with your inner Self, your calling will find you. What must be sought
is that inner guidance and the courage to follow it. That is the
purpose of having a spiritual practice—to listen to what is
within—to follow where it leads, even when where it leads is
somewhere you never thought of going. It may not be grand. It may not
be obvious. It may be a small, simple thing—like saying what you
honestly believe to be true, even when it's unpopular. If the
guidance comes from within your heart and soul, then it is
trustworthy.
The
things that often keep us from listening to what Spirit is telling us
are fear and anger, which Myss calls poisons. “St. Teresa of Avila
called these forces 'reptiles' that contaminate your mind.”
Listening to Spirit, and steadfastly walking your spiritual path,
give you the courage to defeat fear and anger. When you do, happiness
will come of its own volition.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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