The Happiness Moment

Joy is a bit like champagne, isn’t it?  It can bubble up from nowhere and leave you feeling that effervescent happiness moment that is singularly the best!

Happiness is not something that can be bought or achieved or pursued or found because all of these actions denote that what you long for is outside of you.

Most people think of the big moments in life as being the happy times (like babies, graduations, vacations, weddings, parties and celebrations.) These are great events that bring joy but are few and far between. But, the kind of happiness I’m talking about is so much more. It’s a bit like the 80/20 rule—where eighty percent of the time you’re feeling really good and twenty percent of the time you’re feeling other stuff.

The other day I received a note in my inbox from a woman who was looking for Richard to thank him for writing, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. She didn’t know that he had passed away and she wrote to me instead. It was like one of thousands of letters I’ve received over the years acknowledging how Richard’s work has brought a sense of peace and calm to each person through his teachings. Maybe, you experienced that, too, and that’s why you’re here reading this blog?

Truth is, that inner feeling of happiness comes in brief moments that happen when you really notice them.

You’re at the park with your child or grandchild and you zero in on the expression in their eyes or a giggle that comes when they go down the slide.

You’re walking your dog and noticing the fall colors and how breathtakingly beautiful the day is.

You’re at the store eyeing the many varieties of apples and feeling grateful for the one that you choose for your grocery bag.

A happiness moment comes when you’re deeply engaged in whatever you are doing and you settle into that feeling of being alive—in the most simple, random every day ordinary ways life suddenly becomes extraordinary.

It’s true; as Richard said in his first book on happiness, in You Can Be Happy No Matter What, that you can be happy for no reason.

These feelings of joy and contentment that bubble can become the “normal” every day experience when you develop a deep understanding of how to generate these feelings by tapping into the present moment more and more of the time.

Sometimes, how we are interacting with life and responding to circumstances, however, can subtly shift us from contentment to other feelings—fear, excitement, anger, sadness. And, these feelings can become like a cloud that passes over the sun shading it for a time. We all experience a broad range of emotions all the time. It is the very nature of being human. But, I love something else that Richard said, that we can learn how to be “graceful when low, and grateful when high.”

Wayne Dyer said, “Happiness is not the end, it’s the beginning—contentment is the place to start.”

Sometimes, all we need is a reminder—a refresher course to help keep us on track.

As we move through our lives having a deeper understanding of how to learn how to dismiss negative thinking, how to roll with our moods that go up and down like the weather, how to respond to conflict in all of our relationships, and how to live presently with a deep engagement with life—these are the keys to the kingdom of happiness and lasting contentment.

In our new Happiness Training Courses, it’s our mission to bring you all the keys to a better life: In the first course, You Can Be Happy! you will develop a deeper understanding of the wisdom that has helped millions of people find some peace and calm and has taught them how not to sweat the small stuff.

Based on the five principles of psychology that Richard taught in his work, our new course “You Can Be Happy!” will inspire you to feel contentment more and more of the time. And, the best part is, you get to meet Richard! He is teaching in some video snippets we have of him throughout the course. I think you ‘ll find the videos deeply engaging and a great reminder of what you already know…that your happiness moment is waiting for you to show up!

Live your most vibrant life—keep learning and growing that joy that bubbles in celebration of nothing more or less than a happiness moment.

Treasure the gifts of life and love,
Kris

PS: If you feel inspired to learn more, The NEW Happiness Training Course: You Can Be Happy! is HERE (Now only $19.99)