Believe.... happiness follows.

a letter.....
I know I have a tendency to “over-explain” an idea. So I’ll do my best to keep this short. But for my own clarity of thought, I sometimes have to walk through the logic…. Even if it is repetitive.

I’m not sure we define happiness the same.

I don’t define happiness as smiley, outwardly emotionally “up”. And I don’t want to put an expectation on you to “be happy” for appearance sake.
I think I define it in the broad sense of the word. Peace, contentment, internal joy, emotional rest. More of a condition of the heart rather than an appearance on the outside.

I would also define it by what it is not as much as what it is. Not fear, turmoil, anger, anxiety, … blah blah blah. You get the picture.

However, happiness is not the shallow “absence of pain” that the world preaches. The question is not “what would make me happy right now”. More often than not, that question is answered by … “whatever makes the pain go away.” That is the question that leads to addiction.

The question is... "What am I unhappy about and what do I believe about it that makes me unhappy.?" Change the belief and happiness follows.

For me, happiness vs unhappiness is simply the evidence of what I believe. Happiness isn’t the goal… It’s the gauge. I’m not looking for smiles and giggles. I want the truth that brings peace and contentment.

I’ve searched scripture pretty thoroughly about this and I’m confident that scripture and experience supports the position that emotion comes from the belief. I’ve worked on this in my life for 30 years to find out if it works by experience. And I’ve found it to be true. (although I frequently forget to walk in it. I am getting consistently better…. Much to your credit for talking with me.)

It isn’t about emotion. It’s about belief. Belief drives the emotion. So to me, the objective is not “to be happy”. It’s to find the truth. To trust in the Truth. To believe that which is real. Believe the truth and the emotion naturally follows. To further define truth… not so much “what to do” but the truth of who I am and who God is in me…. confidence and wellness and love.

I've heard it said that we are our own best experts. If we are, it is because of our Oneness with God. Truth is found in the Holy Spirit and the Spirit dwells within us. (I postulate no preconceived judgments re: the exclusivity of who the Spirit dwells in. ) Is it within me? Yes. You? I’m sure of it!! But I have a profound sense that it is not me alone. It is not me by myself. It is the “complete” me. The one who is One with the Spirit of God.

Forgive me if I’ve already said this but bear with me…. I’m not preaching. I have to go through the logic for my own clarity…

For me, there is this Truth that is within me that I can’t separate from myself. Jesus, who is “fully God and fully Man” came to make us one with God. (I don’t think we were created one with God. I think we were intended to be, but never “partook of the tree of Life”. That’s my theology and I think it’s accurate.) Jesus was one with the Father and he made us one with them. He accomplished that. Building on that premise… if he made us one with the One who is fully God and fully man…. In essence and truly, he made us fully man and fully God. Yet I cannot escape the deep sense that it is “not I (alone) but Christ who dwells in me”. (but in a much larger sense than we are normally taught.) Personally, I can’t separate the two. I can’t acknowledge me without the sense that it is truly me but also God who is in me. So when I am walking in this… I have a profound and deep appreciation for the Father and for what Christ did in us all.

When I remember to “be”, I find that my path is not about what should I do. Or how I should feel. (“happiness” is just my thermometer.) It is about what I believe. When I remember… I choose to believe truth… and I am at peace. It doesn’t work for me to focus on or deny the emotion or to attempt to change the emotion. (“I’m going to be happy now.”) It only works for me if I take the time to review and decide the belief. (“I’m unhappy because I’m afraid of fillintheblank. I don’t need to be afraid because I can trust myself and God in me.”) Sometimes I can shortcut to “I can trust…”.

Frequently, I forget it’s about belief and I go back to struggling with the emotion. It is always futile. I am remembering more often now.

So when I say “I want you to be happy”. I guess I mean “all of the above”. I want you to believe in yourself and God in you, not because you are “better” in the egotistical sense, but because it has been revealed to you… thus experiencing Peace, contentment (but still free to want the best for yourself), trusting that the path will unfold and you don’t have to worry about it. And ultimately free to love.

Does that make any sense at all?