It is my belief that each of us are presented with two choices … in every second, of every minute, of every day.  We choose what will make us happy … or we choose what will make us something other than happy.  Sound too simplistic??  If we accept and acknowledge that Happiness is here, in the Present … then that is the first element of it.  When we choose to be in the here and now … bask in it; take in every color, breeze, giggle, and tree … we can find Happiness there.  That’s the answer to Happiness, so why is it so difficult to maintain?

We are ever grasping, clutching, seeking, straining for something more than what we have in the Present.  The Future must be some place that is safe for us, therefore we must work at making it be so.  It’s difficult because there really are things in life that require us to have the Future in our thoughts: children who need clothes and education, dreams that need realization, passions that beg to be embraced, the list goes on and on.

The problem is that facing the Future becomes a full-time frame of mind.  We get stuck in a state of constant paranoia and fear because we are always in the Future.  When we put on our clothes each day, how do we decide what we want to wear?  Is it based on what you REALLY like right in that one moment … or is it based on past comments people have made, which lead to projections into the future of how people will react to what we are wearing … will they like it?  You see?  That is just ONE instance … and we do this over and over, all day long.

The Future should not be where we live … it has its place, but that place should have its own space and time; like a list of chores we must accomplish.

1. Do the Dishes

2. Plan for the Future.

3. Buy groceries.

4. Sit on the lawn and relish the feeling of the grass tickling my feet.

etc., etc., etc.

Being in the Present needs to be our constant way of thinking … that’s where Happiness is.  We can have our remembrances of the Past, and have our dreams for the Future … we just need to put them in their proper places and times … not to dominate our mind, and entire way of life.  If we are living anywhere but the Present … we will be on a never-ending search for Happiness … one that can never be completed unless we CHANGE our way of thinking.

The best reason for being in the Present … that is where we connect with God … where we receive Love from, and give love to, God.  The Present is where get Guidance from … guidance that truly will take care of the future for us! There is no more “worthy purpose”, as Helen Keller spoke of in my quote for meditation today, “Helen Keller on Happiness“.  It’s entirely up to you … blissfully happy contentment on one hand vs. fearful prognostications about the Great Uknown – the Future.

——-

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

We all are loved by God, and NO religion or person has a monopoly on it. Every single person on this planet is loved equally by God … SO many are cut off from God because they are told they don’t belong. God loves everyone … we ALL are beautiful creations … we don’t need to cringe when we hear the words “God”, or “religion”, or their judgments … God LOVES us all!

There is no requirement to change in order to be LOVED by God, or to LOVE God. God is LOVE, and LOVE is God … period. There is no one who God loves more than anyone else … there are only those who choose to LOVE more … to love God more, and consequently then to love each other more. In doing so, we grow closer to God … and know God.

By opening our hearts, and minds to God (free of boundaries like religion, or social trends); by LOVING God … we are exactly where we are meant to be. If we maintain that openness, never allowing any person or event to make us close our hearts, we will be guided by God to be who we are meant to be.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Southern California, Northern California, Mission Viejo, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marin, San Jose, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Palm Springs, Long Beach