Letter from Publisher, June 2013
“Happiness is a direction, not a place.” ~ Sydney J. Harris
What are the secrets of a happy life? This is the question Judith Fertig explores in this month’s feature article, “Life Lift: Being Happy from the Inside Out.”Many of us periodically ponder this question over the course of a lifetime. Why are there so many seeming obstacles to realizing something so essential to our existence? Is experiencing sadness really crucial to knowing happiness? What do we do with the sadness? We are learning that how we approach and handle obstacles is vital in either concealing or revealing inner happiness.
I recently had the honor of participating in a workshop led by the renowned visionary, Panache Desai, at a Natural Awakenings publishers’ forum in Naples, Florida. I count him as an enlightened thinker skilled in helping us address such questions. He explains that, “Allowing ourselves to fully embrace our undesirable emotions permits them to wash through us, liberating our pure vibrational energy.”
As I continue to contemplate this concept, I realize that most kids are adept at this. I watch my children do this every day. Whenever they are upset, I encourage them to explore the emotion, organize their thoughts about it, resolve it and then move on. Sometimes one or another emotion takes a more steadfast effort than others to dissolve, but young people prove incredibly resilient. The experts we interviewed on our quest this month attest that happiness is within our control. To greater or lesser degree it can manifest everywhere and in everyone. It is not the product of money, possessions or ego gratification. It is what we decide it is. How we handle expectations of ourselves and others and life is important. What is realistic? What is attainable? These comprise our personal definitions.
In this spirit, I invite each of you now, including me, to grow stronger and bolder in facing your doubts, fears and limiting beliefs and let such attitudes “wash through” you, thereby turning on the light inside and opening up to unimagined possibilities.
To finding the blessings in disguise, Audrey
