Choose Happiness

We are now in the month of Pisces, also known as the month of Joy. Happiness is upon us. Do you feel it?

If you have been on the road of self- improvement for any amount of time, you know that happiness isn't something that just appears or disappears. It's something you have to create.

Happiness can actually be one of the most reactive emotions because we tend to spend our lives waiting for things to happen that will make us happy: I'll be happy when I get promoted, when I have a boyfriend, when I lose the weight. This is such a flawed belief system.

Waiting for any external force to awaken our joy and happiness is precisely what keeps us lacking in joy and happiness. Happiness is a choice we make and must continue to make repeatedly.

But what do you do when the conditions of your life aren't exactly joyful? Experts recommend faking it till you make it. In other words, if you can't find the strength within, awaken it from without.

Let's remember that it's our five senses that prevent us from seeing the Light in every situation or, in other words, from being happy 100% of the time. Studies have shown that if someone describes a scene to you and you imagine it, whether or not you see it with your eyes, the same areas of your brain are stimulated. The brain doesn't care whether it happens in reality or not.

Similarly, when you smile, it doesn't matter if something is making you smile or if you're just smiling for no good reason - the result is the same. When the muscles in your face contract, endorphins are released into your blood stream, giving you that good feeling. Whether or not the smile is caused by the sight of your lover or because you're holding a pen in your mouth like a bone (try it out for yourself), the body perceives that you are smiling, and it does its part.

Remember, practice makes perfect. The more you put yourself in the mood, the quicker you'll be in the mood. This week is about making the decision that you are not going to allow problems to interfere with your happiness. After all, this is the month of happiness and joy.

So, make it happen!

*Excerpts taken from Weekly Kabbalah Tune-up from Yehuda Berg