Don't Worry, Be Happy

I woke this morning in quiet comfort, warm, dry and content. Each toe checked in followed by the top of my feet, my ankles and lower legs. My right leg rested on the soft, warm mattress and my left knee touched the mattress a few inches to the right. My thighs seemed not even to be there. Only a slight pressure sensation was detected in my right thigh and none at all in my left. Further up, my lower abdomen faintly signalled that I would soon be lighter. The only movement in my torso was the gentle rise and fall of my breathing, unhurried and quiet. My head was filled with the happiest emptiness at the dawn of a new day. I savoured the moment with gratitude. A few slow minutes later my kettle started to bubble with delight as its water poured over a green tea and cranberry infusion. The steam rising above the cup was illuminated by a shaft of sunlight streaming through the window. The sunshine was calling me out to play so I donned my tracksuit and trainers and went jogging along our beachside promenade. Before me the Mourne mountains rose tall and proud in the morning sun with a hint of mystery as some darker clouds masked the summit. In this summer season plants of every colour are leaping from the ground in praise to a silent and ever present majesty. It is good to be alive, right here, right now. Like everyone else my life has its challenges. I have to deal with the full range of issues that living brings and I also have a few home grown aberrations of my own. Often they are easier for others to see and so I look for ways to understand and resolve them or to own and reach an accommodation with them. I have my shadows too, but they are not to be feared, they hold the key to self knowledge and growth. Such challenges as I have bring interest to this journey of life. They give me cause for concern and bring focus to my efforts but they are not to worry me. Worry of itself has no value. It can incapacitate in a similar way as guilt, fear and anxiety. At best we can consider such emotions as stepping stones to learning. Many years ago a counsellor told me that ‘Everyone is responsible for their own happiness’. At the time I was heartbroken, aggrieved and angry. It was easier to point a finger than to accept reality. Today I recognise it as a time of upheaval which eventually led me to a higher sense of being. My emotions were protecting me, helping me cope with a period of rapid transition. In a sense they provided a psychological defence similar in its own way to the powerful physiological defences afforded us from our immune system. In both cases defences are activated unconsciously and in proportion to the perceived danger. I choose to believe that such occurrences provide us with a glimpse of the infinite source of wisdom. In everything that happens there are dimensions of consciousness at work far beyond our imagination. We are protected, we are cared for, we have a unique importance and a unique role to play. We need only pause a moment to see our troubles in the broader context to find gratitude for the learning they bring. So whether in the silent comfort of a warm bed, the colourful exuberance of a spring morning, the anguish of heartbreak or any other crucible of learning we can know that there is a presence of infinite power constantly encouraging us to higher consciousness and communion with all creation. We need have no worries. Our task today, and every day, is to be happy.