(To read this series from the beginning, click here.) Several months ago, my friend Mary Riposso did an online interview with me. I wanted to share that interview here. (And if you get the chance, click over to Mary’s website.)
Mary’s question #5: “Many of us have fearful thoughts that block our experience of happiness and love. Can you offer one simple tool we can use right away to begin to allow happiness into our lives?”
One simple tool that can help you to shift from unhappiness to happiness is wonderful opportunity exercise. When you are upset, it is because you yourself are blocking your inner happiness. You are blaming your upsetness on someone or something else, but it is really caused by your own thoughts. So you can think of the person or situation you are upset about as a wonderful opportunity to uncover and let go of your own inner obstacles. Until you let go of those thoughts, they are always working in the background to limit and sabotage your happiness. So every situation in which you feel upset is a wonderful opportunity to uncover your own self-deception, and open yourself to a whole new level of happiness.
This does not mean that the situation you’re facing is wonderful. It means that if you are upset now, that upsetness is coming from inside yourself. It is being caused by you blocking your own deeper self-awareness. So any situation that brings those inner obstacles to light can a wonderful opportunity for you to discover and heal the real cause of your unhappiness.
Another very powerful tool is “The Best Day exercise.” Click here to find out more.
Mary’s question #6: “Where can people go to experience more of your work?”
Visit my website www.TheHappyMindBook.com for hundreds of articles, practical exercises, and more.
My wife and I offer a one-day workshop entitled The Happy Mind Workshop. The whole idea of changing the foundations of all of your unhappy thoughts is simple in theory. But in practice, it can be challenging, since you have a lifetime of believing your old beliefs, and a lifetime of experience that validates and justifies them. Plus you live in a culture that unconsciously accepts those old beliefs without question, and reinforces them for you every day.
We offer a 2-hour mini-workshop entitled Happiness: The Gateway to Everything You Want For Yourself and Others. Many people think that getting everything you want is the gateway to happiness. But actually it’s just the opposite. Happiness is the key to physical health, loving relationships, genuine compassion, realizing your deepest dreams, and experiencing prosperity and well-being in every area of your life. And it is your guide on your journey of self-awakening.
Finally, we offer an extensive three-day workshop, Living the Happy Mind: Undoing Your Inner Obstacles To Happiness. This workshop goes into depth about how to actually live the seven principles in your daily life. And it guides you to discover your own unique life purpose and the gifts you bring to this journey.
We also offer book signings and presentations in the upstate New York area. And if you have a book club that would like to read The Happy Mind, I’d be happy (!) to join you for one of your meetings if you’re within a reasonable driving distance.
For information on our workshops and other events, visit click here. If you would like us to come to your area to offer a workshop or a talk, please contact us through the website, email us (wyoder1@adelphia.net), or call us at 315-736-3324.
Happiness is a state of mind ...