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ISSN: 1539-431X November 13, 2003 What Is the Best Way To Be Joyful?
 What
is RSS?
John Cali Well, we’ve talked about death several times the past few newsletters. Joseph, of course, always views what we call death in a positive and uplifting way. I realize not all of us humans do. So this week we’re moving on to a lighter subject, joy. Sound good to you? A long-time subscriber sent us this question and some "random thoughts," as she put it, about the question.
Her question:
Her random thoughts (slightly edited): "I have seen ‘joy’ experienced over fun/ external things turn to fear. For example, I bought a new car that I loved but then I started obsessing that it would be stolen. A friend who was on cloud 9 when she got engaged soon after started obsessing that something would happen to her fiance. "It seemed like fear always crept into the joy and ruined it because it was being grasped too tightly. How should I approach having a new car and my friend feel about her engagement? "I know of others who have lived numbing, isolated lives for so long that they shrink from joy because, oddly enough, to them it will bring up pain . . . and they (prefer) not being ‘over stimulated’ by joy. "One person told me, ‘I'm afraid of being happy and when things go too well. It makes me nervous. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. So I'd rather not go through that. It's too emotionally taxing.’ "So, how can I be joyful without allowing the fear to enter the picture? Also, how is it possible to be joyful in sad circumstances? "I know it's a choice but it doesn't feel like one! I would not feel joyful if my new car got stolen. (Is) it all about learning to be joyful that my new car gets stolen (if it does!)? "Is it just a matter of practice (i.e., meditation and choosing only positive perceptions of life) that will get me out of this?" Here’s Joseph. Chief Joseph Joy and well-being are your natural state. Do you hear that? Your natural state! You fight so hard against, you resist so strenuously, your natural state of being. Why? Well, for one thing, you’ve been literally brainwashed by your societies. And by "societies" we mean all those parts of your cultures that are supposed to guide and protect you. (Not that you need either guidance or protection from them–but you think you do, because they said so.) Think about this for a few moments. Are you not taught (that is, in our terms, "brainwashed") that you succeed in life by hard work, strenuous effort, and struggle? Or, as one of your most eloquent statesmen put it, by "blood, sweat, and tears"? Most of you have bought into that nonsense. And yet–and yet your soul, your higher self, knows better. It knows what your natural state is–it knows what it intended for you when you incarnated this time, and every time. What remains for you (the human you) to do is to remember what you knew at your physical birth–to remember what your soul has never forgotten. And what your soul has never forgotten is that your natural state, your birthright is that of well-being and joy. Well-being encompasses all of what you might imagine it does–abundance in all forms. Abundance in your relationships, in your finances, in your careers, in your bodies. In every aspect and in every "nook and cranny," if you will, of your physical being and your physical life. And in every aspect of your spiritual being and your spiritual life. No matter what circumstances you began this lifetime in–no matter how trying or traumatic they may appear to your human eyes–they contain the potential for, and the seeds of, joy. The joy your soul exists in eternally. And so let us get to some of the questioner’s concerns. Will detachment and meditation strengthen your inner connection to joy? Anything at all that helps you connect intimately with your higher self strengthens your inner guidance. And, therefore, brings you more joy. However, let us offer a word of caution here. Many of you, when you use the word "detachment," are thinking of disconnecting from all or most of your material world. Or disconnecting from all or most of your desires. And that will never serve you well. You came to this lifetime to immerse yourselves in the world of the physical. To detach from it is folly and thwarts your soul’s intentions for you in this physical lifetime. What we would advise is for you to detach from whatever does not bring you joy. Certainly you must detach from the idea that–to use the questioner’s words–"being joyfully passionate about something leads to fear/obsession/disappointment down the road." What leads to fear, obsession, and disappointment is focusing on fear, obsession, and disappointment. Focusing on your passionate joy guarantees, by the Universe’s immutable Law of Attraction, you will get more of what brings you passionate joy. It’s that simple. You have been brainwashed by your modern world into believing life is dangerous, lack abounds, people are evil, nothing ever works out the way you want it to. And so on, ad nauseam. That will certainly be your experience if that’s where your predominant focus is. But that experience is not caused by your passionate joy, as many of you think. It is caused by your focus on everything except your passionate joy. After all, you all create your own realities. Period! And what you think mostly about is what you create. Period! So many of you have bought into the mass consciousness of lack and fear and evil. Those are all illusions, in that they have no real substance. And yet they will be part of your reality if you choose to create them by focusing too much upon them. It is impossible for you to be "over-stimulated" by joy. Literally impossible. Your soul, your higher self, exists in a permanent, eternal state of joy. And it intended you, in your human life, to partake of that eternal joy in every aspect of your physical life. And so, if you’re always afraid of being happy, then that’s what you’ll create more of–a lack of happiness. You cannot be joyful and fearful at one and the same time. They are mutually exclusive. And you get to choose which you prefer. Focus on joy in whatever way works for you–meditation, reading uplifting books, spending time with positive people, etc. etc. The possibilities are endless. And the joyful realities you will create for yourselves will also be endless. Focus on fear in all the ways of the world–immersing yourselves every day in your mainstream news media, spending time with negative people, watching horror movies, etc. etc. The possibilities here are also endless. And the fearful realities you will create for yourselves will also be endless. It is so very simple. You make this much more difficult and complicated for yourselves than it is. It was never complicated or difficult. Your natural state is that of well-being. You’ve heard us say that so many times you’re probably sick of hearing it. But we repeat it again and again because you need to hear it again and again. Well-being is your natural state! Believe it! And think only about what brings you joy. Then you will live happily ever after. We guarantee it!
This article was originally published here.
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John can be reached by email here
or through their website (http://www.greatwesternpublishing.org). Copyright © 2003 by John Cali. All rights reserved. *************************************************************************
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