Your Emotions Are Your Guide

Have you ever noticed that even though you've thought about something and it seems like the "right" thing to do, you are still confused and don't feel quite right? Everything seems to be lining up and it might be exactly what you thought you'd been waiting for, only to discover that you're just not happy about it? Isn't it completely confusing? It doesn't have to be.

Our emotions are our guide to happiness. We humans tend to want to use logic to solve our problems. Logic, of course, is a gift and is useful, but it isn't everything. We also have feelings. Ultimately, how we FEEL about something dictates whether or not it will lead to happiness, not what we THINK about it.

There's a saying that I've used before in my own life: "If my head, heart and gut don't line up, it's probably not the 'right' thing to do". Isn't that the truth? In my own quest for happiness, I've tried to resist how I feel about something, because logic was telling me to do the opposite. Unfortunately, emotions always won, and I ended up feeling more distant from happiness than closer to it.

For example: I was in a relationship with someone I loved very much. I saw that he had a lot of potential and a big heart. But, what I also saw was someone who was very defensive, and quick to blame others for his unhappiness, and then deny that he was doing that very thing! Although I wanted him to be happy and I didn't want to distance myself from him because of our history as friends, ultimately, being in his presence brought me down, too. I couldn't fix him, and he didn't want to be fixed. It was only when I left for good that I immediately started to feel happy again. I stopped getting migraines (one way negative emotion manifests itself). I started to feel like myself again, and I started drawing people to me like a magnet, as I had in happier times. Today, I am happy, content, loved and having a great time in my life!

The key word here is resistance. The more we resist positive feelings, the more we're not in alignment with positive vibration, or good-will. We resist positive emotion by continuing to do the very things that drive us farther from contentment and joy, and ultimately, attract more of the negative things we DON'T want, because that is what we're focusing on. The more we seek happiness, and put away how we THINK about a situation, the closer to contentment and joy we become. Our focus is redirected to that which brings pleasure, and we feel good when we get what we desire. When we continue to focus on the positive things that make us happy, more good things will come that contribute to that happiness.

The Dalai Lama tells us that we should do what makes us happy. In the book The Art of Happiness by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C Cutler, M.D., the doctor tells a story of a patient of his who was having a difficult time deciding whether to stay where she was or move to a more desirable location. She made a pros and cons list, and she still couldn't make up her mind. She loved her job, and knew she couldn't find another one like it where she dreamed of living, but she also loved the accessibility, beauty, and options of her dream town. The doctor, knowing what the Dalai Lama had told him about doing that which makes one happy, asked his patient that very question. Suddenly, the decision wasn't so hard. She loved her job, and it made her happy. The amenities and all the external things she liked about her dream destination suddenly didn't seem so important. Once she put away logic and thought about how she felt, she just knew. No more confusion.

So, I ask you to think about something in your life that you may be struggling with. What does logic tell you? What do your feelings tell you? If they line up, then you have your answer. If they don't line up, then you also have your answer. Trust your feelings. Do what makes you happy. You will not be disappointed in the long run. Remember, the more positive things that happen in your life, the more things like it will be drawn to you!

Good Luck!

Have a wonderful day!

Arlene