May I be Happy


Today, I am remembering to be grateful and accepting. Nonjudgmental.

Focusing on appreciating every moment of my life, rather than analyzing it and always determining "something's missing".

Recent mantra: May I be happy with myself as I am, with my life as it is, in this moment. 
When I first started with this mantra (which I got from a friend), I had to call myself out on all the automatic "but" thoughts: "But, I'm waiting for x to happen" "But, I have bills to pay" "But, people are starving/dying somewhere"...
Within the process of noticing these defensive thoughts, I realized there's always an excuse (ie. a choice) to not be happy. There is a pattern of thinking that we get stuck in; that happiness is always around the next corner... 
By examining this as a pattern (not as something that is integral to my identity), I am reminded that I don't want to keep waiting for "perfection" in my life in order to be happy (or to accept myself and my life, as it is, without any good/bad judgments)... 
As a matter of fact, I'll just go ahead and be happy now...


Obviously, life is not so simplistic. And we're all going to experience a full range of human emotions.  But, we do have a choice in how long we identify with these emotions.  And we do have a choice in which patterns of thinking we perpetuate in our lives.  If we want to be happy, we have to choose to give our time/energy to situations/people/goals/etc. that propel us forward.  If our attention is pointed forward, so shall we go!  


Note: Although personal mindset and mindfulness are incredibly important, this does not undermine therapeutic treatment and mental health support as it is needed.  Each person's path is incredibly different, and there's no shame in reaching out to get the support we need to stay afloat! <3

Lastly: The Gift of Self-Love art workshop is this Thursday 2/22! click here for more info
Location: Long Beach, CA, USA

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