The Secret of Happiness

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Margie Beiswanger, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Are you holding your breath, hoping I’ll reveal something that you don’t already know? Or maybe you’re pretty sure that whatever I have to say won’t be new, but you’re curious to know just WHICH “secret” I’m going to reveal? Well, no matter. Here’s the scoop.

Last night I attended a presentation at my local library and that was the title – The Secret of Happiness. The presenter was a young Buddhist nun with a melodic voice, calming presence, and beautiful smile.

Did she reveal some new secret to happiness? Nope.

She reminded us of the age old wisdom that WE are our own source of happiness. I know you know that. It’s just that it’s easy to forget that nugget of wisdom and instead reach out to other things, people, places, etc. to “bring” us the happiness that we so desperately desire. Sigh. It doesn’t work – at least not for long – does it? No argument there.

So what do we do? Well, her advice is to meditate regularly. We have scientific evidence that a daily meditation practice does indeed increase happiness and our sense of wellbeing. I love that and I agree wholeheartedly.

Here’s the interesting link for me – it’s all about training your mind. Meditation trains your mind to stay present and not to resist ‘what is,’ whether that’s your thoughts or your current circumstances. Life coaching dovetails nicely with this idea of training your mind. Why let our negative thoughts run our lives? I mean, really, what’s the benefit in that? Okay, okay, sometimes you do have to consider the negative potential of something; I’ll give you that. But do you really need to let those negative thoughts run amok as often as you do? I vote NO! C’mon, jump on the bandwagon with me and vote NO! You can do it.

Learn to choose your thoughts so that you feel happier and calmer more often and then act in a manner that brings you joy. Every day. No matter what life hands you. I’ll leave you with a wonderful thought that Kelsang gave me last night. It’s such a lovely gift that I want to share it with you. I dare you to start thinking this thought. Starting now…

“I am an unlimited source of happiness!”

Yep, YOU are the secret of your happiness. Isn’t that a cool secret? Enjoy!

~Margie

Margie Beiswanger
Certified Life Coach
www.FulfilledLifeDesign.com