{"id":1173,"date":"2012-07-02T23:35:58","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T05:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithyourself\/?p=1173"},"modified":"2012-07-02T23:35:58","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T05:35:58","slug":"dont-worry-be-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithyourself\/2012\/07\/dont-worry-be-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Worry, Be Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Anthony De Mello was a mystic Jesuit Priest, who authored many books, lead seminars, and was a therapist. \u00a0The following passage was taken from his book \u201cSong of the BIrd\u201d :<\/p>\n

\u201cA man found an eagle\u2019s egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.<\/p>\n

All his life the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet into the air.<\/p>\n

Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.<\/p>\n

The old eagle looked up in awe. \u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the eagle, the king of the birds,\u201d said his neighbor. \u201cHe belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth\u2014we\u2019re chickens.\u201d So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that\u2019s what he thought he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

I share this wonderful story by Anthony De Mello because each of us is the golden eagle. When I watch an eagle I see strength, grace, freedom, and unconditional happiness. \u00a0As we begin to practice surrendering our attachments, bonds, and resentments with our life, we begin to understand that we are really quite free now. \u00a0Ask yourself, \u201cHow important is your happiness?\u201d See what comes up for you. \u00a0If your answer is, \u201cNot that important\u201d, then now would be a good time to see why, don\u2019t you think. \u00a0We seem to live life in a box, meaning that I can\u2019t be happy until my partner changes, I am rich, have a big house, people love me, etc.. and that is not true. \u00a0In fact you have a choice to be happy now. \u00a0IT\u2019S FREE. \u00a0So you may be wondering, \u201cHow can something that is free, be so difficult to have or even maintain?\u201d Good question, \u201cWhat is prohibiting your state of happiness?\u201d Oh you could say family, \u00a0you could say my partner, job, education, brother, religion, boss, kids, etc\u2026keep going, but where are you. \u00a0They are all connected to the storyteller- YOU! You are telling all of us the story. Each of the people you mentioned have no idea you are holding them responsible for your happiness. So let go of the captives and you will be happy. \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n

1. Take responsibility for the stories you tell to others, about them, and about you. I had someone tell me the other day that it was my fault they weren\u2019t \u00a0having a good time. So I suggested they look at where the words were coming from. And they smiled, and changed their attitude, by changing the story. IT\u2019S NOBODY\u2019S FAULT THAT YOU ARE FEELING THE WAY YOU ARE.<\/p>\n

2. Remember nothing outside of you can make you feel anything, you choose how that thing makes you feel.<\/p>\n

3. Practice, practice, practice<\/p>\n

questions?: semjase64@gmail.com<\/p>\n

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