Articles

Joy and Happiness

Joy and happiness are part of the design of every life. You are the only one who can bring the joy and happiness into your life. Joy is hard to come by if you are not aligned with the Universe. The important thing to understand is this: you are unique in this whole universe. You have never existed before and you will never exist again. This is your "unique genius." If you do not fully and passionately express this unique genius in your life, joy and happiness will be fleeting or will allude you all together.

The skills we need to bring joy and happiness in are the tools of living passionately, the ability to commit to our soul’s purpose, and to stay open to unimagined outcomes. These skills allow us to function with focus in chaos and in the Unknown. With these skills we can begin to live our unique genius without needing to know exactly what it is. As we can allow our unique genius to guide our life, we come into right relationship with our self, with all others, with the environment, and with the spirit world.

"Easier said than done?" you may be saying. "I am who I am!" Yes, but we are all mutable and changeable as long as we are breathing. We all have habits, addictions, and familiar ways of doing things. These are often ways we distort reality. The skills of the shaman encourage us to we see through this distortion and gives us the "eyes" to do it. Then we can act powerfully and gracefully in the world.
The skills of the shaman start by helping us develop a working relationship with spirit. From there shamanism offers us the skills, healing, and experience needed to show up and step into a life of greater and greater meaning every day.

Then we learn to visualize a life of meaning. The key is to craft this vision and then let it go. Surrender the "making it happen" to the Universe. It is an act of trust. In this way we surrender the future to the Universe or the spirit world. We trust that in surrendering, the Universe will give us what we need, and it will be better than we can imagine in ways we could never imagine.

After letting the vision go, our role is to act…to make manifest. We are only powerful in the moment. That is why it is so important to learn to see reality as it is, not as we want it to be, nor how it needs to be so we aren’t afraid. Reality is the only place we’re able to affect change. The great challenge here is unlearning our judgments and learning to discern the truth in the moment. In wielding the sword of discernment you ask essentially "what is reality in this moment and how am I called by Truth to respond to it?"

When we learn to live in reality we begin to live from our true nature. Then we are able to feel the deep pleasure of the soul living its purpose, the true expression of our unique genius in this life. Our passion for it burns underneath everything at all times whether we ever become aware of it or not. It is the deep feeling underneath all culture, tradition, and society that says, "I must live this life of meaning."

The initial step toward joy and happiness is to feel this passion. The next step is to cultivate the skills and abilities to follow this passion to expression in the world. What are these skills?

• Practicing a physical discipline.
• Practicing a spiritual discipline.
• Having path of creative expression and using it.
• Being passionate about your work in the world.
• Sharing love, intimately and with your community of friends and colleagues.

With these active ways of living you begin to align with the Universe and enjoy life as it unfolds.