Happiness is a state of being

If you’re serious about changing your life, you’ll find a way. If you’re not, you’ll find an excuse.

Money will not bring you happiness. The perfect banging bod will not bring you happiness. Your dream house will not bring you happiness. Having a partner will not bring you happiness.

But poverty won't bring you happiness either. Being sick and and unwell won't bring you happiness and being homeless most likely won't. Wandering alone the rest of your life probably isn't where happiness is either- unless that's truly your thing.

We're all searching for happiness and after a lot of my own searching this is what I have found:

Happiness is a state of being.

It's an inside thing. maybe, if you put your disbelief aside, roll up your sleeves, take some risks, and totally go for it, you’ll wake up one day and realize you’re living the kind of life you used to be jealous of.

The outside details are up to you to fill in how YOU want to live this life. But most times the power we have to create our life gets tangled with the projection, shame, and "shoulds" floating around.

So if no one has told you:

This life is YOURS. And the best part is you get to create every juicy detail!!

Don't let anyone put limits on how you show up in this life, how you experience this life, and how you move through this life. You can have everything that your heart desires. But first, the inside thing must be worked on or none of the outside things will matter or show up even if you want them to.

Comparing what you have and your results to what other people have and have accomplished can really kill your motivation. There are always people ahead of you. Focus on you. On your results. And how you can and have improved your life.

What does happiness look like for you when you don't have to choose this or that??

I had to work on the inside- where happiness is cultivated and birthed, and I had to abandon every single notion that any one else shoved in front of me regarding what was acceptable for my life.

I get to decide. And so do you. How amazing is that?

Thank You Note

This is a note of thank you to the man who never had the balls to claim me.

Although I am a strong woman these days, I realize I still have so far to travel on this journey, I also feel immensely thankful for all those “maybes” and “what ifs.”

Thank you for teaching me to embrace, love and revel in my wild.

I am appreciative for those who I made uncomfortable with my truth. It was only through learning how much others don’t like the truth exposed, to learn for myself how much I crave its very existence—if truth were a drug it would be my favorite high.

Thank you for teaching me to never be afraid of the darkness that the truth may hold. 

I’m gratified for each and every time that I felt I wasn’t getting what I needed from a man—because in fact I wasn’t. It was only through looking at what I didn’t have that made me realize what I do want. While I may travel along empty back roads by myself at times, I also have realized that it’s okay to not accept less than what I deserve, regardless of if it makes sense to others or not.

Thank you for showing me everything that I don’t want, so that when I finally come face-to-face with what I do want—I’ll have the courage to go after it. 

I am thankful for the insecurities that your actions brought out in me, because if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. In looking at what emotions the behaviors of the others were triggering in me I had the ability to look at myself and make the choice on how I wanted to feel. It was only through this experience I learned no one can make me feel a certain way unless I give them permission to do so.

Thank you for helping make me into the strong confident woman that I am today. 

Even though at the time it is never easy, I am simply so grateful that you never loved me enough. We never love the same way twice, and while I know in your own way you did love me, it wasn’t the kind that could keep me warm on a blustery winter’s eve. Thank you for showing me that I don’t want someone to be only half in love with me, or to merely appreciate me--but to leave them breathless.

Thank you for teaching me the love I seek is the one that is extraordinary. 

I am so grateful that I was able to feel what it was like to be trapped by normality, because it taught me that I will never fit into any sort of box or label. I was not put here to make others feel comfortable, but instead to make them feel alive.

Thank you for never appreciating me for my individuality and spirit, because it taught me how important it is to stay true to myself. 

Although being alone was tinged in isolation at times, I realize now that it was in those moments that I was able to take root and bloom into myself. Finding our own way in this world where so many think they know what is right for each of us is the most difficult work we will do. I will always be grateful for you trying to change me so that I was able to realize I am exactly as I should be..

Thank you for leaving me with my loneliness so I could find my way back to myself.

I am so appreciative for you having tried to make me the woman behind the man, because it was there in the shadows I learned that I am meant to be a partner and nothing else. I can create a lot more trouble in this world next to a man who appreciates my fire.

Thank you for attempting to dim my light so I learned that I needed to burn as bright as I could.

Thank you for not being the man that I needed, so that instead I was able to see the woman I already was. 

Thank you for never having the balls to stake a claim on my heart, because it left the space and opportunity for someone who was brave enough to take a chance on the wonderful desire of the unknown, someone who cultivates every trait you tried to suppress...

Thank you for being all wrong, because it showed me what right looks like—and for that I will always be eternally grateful.

 

“The right man will love all the things about you that the wrong man was intimidated by.”  ~ Unknown