Do You Want To Be Happy?

September 8, 2004

BE HAPPY ZONE
By Lionel Ketchian

You want to be happy…right? Do you know anyone that does not want to be happy? Do you know one single person that does not want happiness? Of course, everyone wants to be happy. No one wants to be miserable. Yet many people are miserable. Everyone wants happiness, yet so many people are miserable. How can this be possible? There must be some reason for this condition to exist. With all the psychology and philosophy, and religion we have access to by now, we should know the answer to this question and the solution to the problem. Yet no one seems to know what the answer is.

What if I told you the reason that people are unhappy? You may not believe me, but I'm going to tell you what the real reason is. Are you ready? The reason that people are not happy is because they want to be happy. Yes, because they want to be happy…they are unhappy! I know it does not make sense at first, but bear with me and I will show you why it is true.

The more humanity wants to be happy, the more miserable human beings become. The more you want happiness, the more unhappy you become. The reason for this is the way the human mind functions. If you want to be happy, you have to get away from the desire to be happy. Desire is always for something in the future. Wanting happiness moves you completely away from happiness to unhappiness. Wanting it creates the need for happiness in the future. You can never, ever be happy at some future time. By wanting happiness you create the need to be happy at some future time. You can only be happy now. In fact you must choose being happy each moment. Choosing happiness in this moment allows you to connect with this moment.

Your desire to be happy at some future time has lead you away from being happy right here and now. Your desire for happiness shows you that you are not happy now and you want happiness by getting something in the future, someday, someway, some how, but not now. If you are unhappy right now, you take that projection into the future and you experience unhappiness in each and every succeeding moment. This will create the following problem. The more unhappy you are, the more you want happiness. This creates even more unhappiness because now you are on the down hill spiral leading to even more unhappiness and misery.

Give up the desire to have everything go the way you want it to go. Give up the desire to have everything you think you want. You have missed the train to happiness, because you are trying to catch the train at some future time. You can only board the train in this moment. Catch happiness in this very moment or you miss it. If you start to realize you do not need anything or anyone to be happy right now you could catch the happiness train. The only time it is possible to catch happiness is now, not then and not when.

Being happy now is the only way to be happy. In fact if you would only think about right now, you would be happy and nothing could negatively affect you. Your problems are created as soon as you think about the past. You start connecting with the problems you think you have and you lose track of the train to happiness. You may start thinking about the future, about when things will get better and you start becoming unhappy because you begin to worry about things not going the way you hope they will go.

Happiness is not about your past, or your future. It is about right now. Happiness is about where you are right now. Not where you have been or where you are going. Unhappiness is impossible right now in this moment. As soon as you find that you are becoming unhappy you have either started to think about something from your past, or you are thinking about something that may happen in the future. You have put yourself on the wrong track again. The track to happiness is now or never. It is always now or never. And you will never be happy if you are not happy now. Because being happy now makes you realize you can be happy again in this moment right now. And choose to be happy again and again and again, in spite of what happens and no matter what happens.

Dr. Wayne Dyer was absolutely right when he said, "…there is no way to happiness; happiness is the way." Everyone wants happiness. Give up wanting happiness and start being happy! Take the happiness train now. Don't look back to see if you missed it, and don't wait for it because you think it is coming. Get on the right track and catch the happiness train now! The next train for happiness leaves right now, don't miss the boat, I mean don't miss the train. As my good friend Epictetus said 2000 years ago, "There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things that are beyond the power of our will." You must be willing to be happy now! Where there is a happy will, there is a happy way!

Our next Happiness Club meeting will be on Thursday, September 16, from 7:00 - 9:00 P.M. at the Fairfield Sullivan Independence Hall in Fairfield. The topic for the evening will be "Personal Happiness and the Work World," will be the presentation by Cal Sutliff, a management trainer, organization consultant in people management areas and a management coach. Come on down, meet some great people, get connected, and be happy. Admission is free; everyone is welcome.