I Am Happiness

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

~Abraham Lincoln

I once witnessed a most delightful conversation between a mother and her young daughter. The whole conversation lasted barely a minute, and yet I have never forgotten it. It happened while I was sitting in a busy terminal at the New Delhi international airport, in India, waiting for my flight to be announced. The mother and her daughter, who was named Angela, were sitting opposite me. Angela, who was about three years old, was talking and drawing, talking and eating, talking and reading. Meanwhile, her mother was busy sorting out plane tickets and passports.

Although I could hear Angela talking, I wasn’t really listening to what she was saying until she suddenly announced, “I am happiness, Mummy.” The words caught my ear. And I found myself smiling. What a great thought, I thought to myself. After that, Angela leaned over and tugged on her mother’s T-shirt so as to get her full attention.

“I am happiness, Mummy,” said Angela. “What, darling?” her mother asked

“I am happiness, Mummy,” repeated Angela.

“No, darling. What you mean to say is, ‘I am happy,’” explained her mother.

“No, Mummy,” explained Angela. “I am happiness.”

By now, I noticed that several other passengers were listening in on the conversation. Angela’s mother noticed also. She was a little embarrassed, but we all realized just how sweet and funny the moment was.

“I — am — happy,” said Angela’s mother in a slow and deliberate voice.

“I — am — happiness,” replied Angela in a slow and deliberate voice.

Her mother smiled. “Okay, Angela, you are happiness.”

“Yes, Mummy, I am happiness,” said Angela, nodding her head. And that was it. A short and sweet conversation finished as suddenly as it had started. But it really got me thinking.

How would you live your life if you knew you were already happy? Imagine how you would be. Imagine how good you would feel if you knew that your original nature is already happy. Imagine exactly how you would greet each new day knowing that you are what you seek. Imagine how much love and healing you would experience if you changed the purpose of your relationships from finding happiness to sharing happiness. Imagine how fantastic and successful you’d be if you followed your joy and you let your happiness shine through you. Imagine how you would be.

Imagine if, just for one moment, you surrendered completely to the original joy of your true nature. What a baptism that would be! Imagine how freeing it would be if you no longer needed the world to make you happy. What a blessing for all! Imagine how rich you would feel knowing your happiness is not separate from you and hidden away inside some external thing. Imagine how your attitude toward money would change. Imagine how much you would let yourself relax and enjoy each moment if you knew your joy is always with you and not someplace else. Imagine how your attitude to time would change. Imagine how you would be.

Imagine if every day you were to let the original joy of your being bless you and refresh you. Imagine if you made the purpose of your life not to get happiness but to spread happiness. Imagine how much you would enjoy yourself. Imagine how generous you would be. Imagine how kind you would be. Imagine what a great friend you would be. If you lived your life in the knowledge that your being is already happy, you would be free to be the person you “came to be.” Being already happy, you would not be afraid to love. In fact, you would probably become the most loving person you could possibly imagine.

Imagine how that would be.

~Robert Holden

Published by Hay House; available at www.hayhouse.com.