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away from being sucked in by the sinking sands of transient lures. To gain true happiness and to fulfill our divine potentials, we must often leave our childhood toys, habits and friends. They'll be fine. Don't worry, be happy!
To get a true picture of yourself here and now, ask yourself these questions:
A re you happy with yourself? Are the people around you happy? Is God happy with you?
Are You Happy With Yourself?
When you look at yourself in the mirror; in the mirror on the wall, in the mirror of your mind, or the mirror of your soul, do you like what you see, physically, mentally and spiritually? Your satisfaction or dissatisfaction should not be based so much on where you are now, but how much you've improved from the past, and how much of a progressive trend you see towards the future.
If your life is filled with pain and suffering, you will not be happy and you must do something about it. But there are many who cause their own emotional pain. Much of it is due to the importance they place in what others think of them. Get a good perspective on this. Be true to yourself, but realize also that much of happiness or its lack is due to the relationships we have with others.
Are The People Around You Happy?
You are not totally responsible for the happiness of the people around you for they all have their own free wills, but are you doing the best you can to increase their happiness? It is true that some people can make unreasonable demands on you and that you are not beholden to them to appease their every wish but what you can do is to apply the true golden rule (platinum rule) to them. Stick to the highest ideals. Do good to them, not for personal reward but so they can pass the good onto others. To be able to consistently apply the true golden rule to all those in your life is to be doing the best thing that can lead to happiness for everyone.
It is good to be loyal to one's family and social group, but it is better to be loyal to the universal organization, the family of God. It would be ideal if they are one and the same, but often it is not. Which should take precedence, the love of family or the love of God? It depends on whom you are closer to.
As we evolve spiritually, our attention widens from being centered on ourselves, to being centered on family and friends, then to our community, nation and then our universe. The development of unselfishness expands as we grow, our sense of happiness matching it stride for stride. There is more on this in the section on the Personality performance range of breadth.
Is God Happy With You?
God is always happy with you. It is only your perception that he is not and you may have that perception when you are not doing your best in following his leadings. God knows that you will eventually attain the heights of spiritual living regardless of your mistakes but you may not have this same awareness. You can reconcile your doubts by sharing your inner life with him on a regular basis through worshipful meditation, prayer and service. It is not where you are now that counts with God, but where you are going. If you are consistently striving to better yourself, to sincerely follow your inner leadings, even if you sometimes falter, you will have a better perception of yourself in relation to God. But no matter what you do, he does love you unconditionally.
The above are simple and basic things, but if they are answered in the affirmative, all is well. But all is not so well if you are in physical pain or discomfort, which means you are not happy with yourself, or when you are in emotional pain or discomfort which means people around you are not happy with you, or when you are in spiritual pain and discomfort which means that you think God is not happy with you.
Stress and concern is part of life that may not be avoided, but one can avoid stress that results from imagined and/or unreasoned consequences that is not of the now. One may be totally free from pain or burden at a given moment, but worry and stress can be debilitating and agonizing if there is something in the future that is frightening. For instance, if you are undergoing surgery a month from now, worry may etch its lines upon your psyche. Or if you are unemployed and you know that you will be running out of money in the near future, that may indeed be a cause for concern. Or it may be that a loved one is going to die soon.
The best way to deal with all these things is in the now. If you are facing surgery, or any imminent crisis, make the most of the present moment and take care of yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually, so that you will be in the best state of mind and body to pass through the crisis well. If you are jobless and money is getting scarce, do the necessary things
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