Happiness is your birthright.
As babies we are all born with an innate feeling of happiness and joy.
Although there are moments of experiencing other emotions,
Happiness is the center point.
As we begin to grow,
We are shaped by the people and settings which surround us.
We have been programmed to place judgments on everyone and everything in our lives.
Judgments such as good or bad,
Right or wrong,
Positive or negative.
These are all stored in our unconscious mind and the labels that we have developed throughout our life come to play in our current day behaviors.
When we hear or see them enough times,
They become dominant beliefs without even potentially knowing where they came from.
Beliefs are the lens that we see the world through.
How we look at people and situations and the judgments and prejudices we develop.
As small children we are generally happy and then we experience shame,
Guilt,
Fear and injustice and this slowly dims our light of happiness.
We learn to be afraid of so much.
We learn suffering is a way of life and being.
Happy becomes almost unreachable.
With everything going on in the world,
The news and our economic situation,
One would think it is nearly impossible to be happy much of the time.
But this is an illusion.
Happiness and joy are your birthright and it has just been clouded and hindered.
Now let's take a few deep breaths into your heart center.
Imagine walking down a paved path through a beautiful garden.
You see the green plants and bright robust flowers all around you.
You look up and see the vivid blue sky and feel the fresh comfortable breeze on your skin.
As you go deeper into the garden,
You see a gate ahead.
This gate has a sign on it that says happiness.
As you approach the gate,
You see that your name is on it.
You know this is here just for you.
You reach for the latch and it easily opens.
Just beyond the gate,
You see a beautiful plush grass area of rolling hills stretching out for miles.
In the distance,
You hear the sound of a child laughing,
But you do not see anyone.
The laughter gets louder and louder.
Suddenly,
You see what looks like a balloon on a string,
But you can't see who is holding it.
Suddenly,
You see a small head coming up over the hill nearest to you and then the profile of a small child.
As they get closer,
You can see that it is you as a small child around the age of four or five.
Still giggling,
The child approaches you.
You see that huge smile on their face and they are so happy to see you as you are them.
You have missed that happy child.
You wonder where they have been.
You get down on your knees and ask the child if you can embrace them.
If they say yes,
You give them a hug.
If not,
You tell them it's okay and you are still happy to see them.
Now that child looks at you and you ask if you can have a short talk with them.
They nod.
They are full of vigor and excitement.
You now sit down on the grass together and you proceed to ask them some questions.
Tell them you are their future self and you are hoping they can provide you with some answers.
You begin to ask them if there was a situation that happened when they felt like they could not be so happy and carefree.
Was there a particular memory or situation or time frame that changed things for them?
Allow your child to share all they need to share.
Now ask them what the situation caused them to believe about themselves or about being happy.
Did they feel like they needed to suffer or struggle or experience pain?
Was happiness for other people or were they not worthy or deserving to be happy?
Do they believe that being happy makes other people angry or sad or uncomfortable?
Do they believe that being happy gets them in trouble or that it is not acceptable in their family?
Allow your child to share whatever comes to them and listen with compassion and curiosity.
If your child doesn't want to talk,
You can just sit with them or hold them and tell them it is safe for them to open up to you.
Honor them if they do not want to speak right now and you can revisit this meditation at another time.
Creating safety and trust with your child will get them to open up.
So by having a simple conversation about their favorite color,
Song or toy may open the door to more intimacy.
I will give you some time to converse and listen to your child.
We do not want to overwhelm your child with too much,
So let your child know that you are happy that they felt safe enough to share with you.
Tell them you are proud of them as it took a lot of courage and bravery to open up.
Thank them and tell them you will be back to visit them again.
As you begin to get up,
Your child realizes that they are safe and happy.
You hold them and you feel their love radiating to your heart.
You hear them say to you,
It's okay for you to be happy like me again.
You feel the emotion welling up in both of you.
The child tells you they love you and they run back off into the green hills giggling once again.
You stand there until you hear their laughter fade into silence.
You turn and head back to the gate at which you entered and see the sign that says happiness.
You take the sign with you as you know happiness is yours to have.
It always was and always will be.
You take a deep breath in knowing that truth.
You can now let go of all the stories and judgments that you once believed and embrace this new permission to be happy.
You deserve to be happy.
It is safe to be happy and it is your birthright to be happy.
Take a deep breath and slowly wiggle your fingers and toes.
Give your body a big stretch and slowly open your eyes.
Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your journey.
Until next time,
This is Tracy Lynn Wallace and I am sending you so much love.
