In these times, happiness feels like an act of rebellion.

I mean, how dare one look for reasons to feel good and find things to celebrate about life - every day? How can one choose individual peace of mind, rather than pondering the troubles of the world? How can one think of pleasure when there is so much obvious, undeniable pain? 

Contrary to popular opinion, my life experience has taught me there is no power in pain. None. There is however, tremendous power in happiness. There is the power to uplift and inspire others. In happiness there is clarity, which is invaluable when one is wanting to be of service to the whole. In happiness there is conscious appreciation of life. Conscious appreciation of life is a vibe that allows ‘miracles’.

We've all been conditioned to some degree or another, to concern ourselves with the problems of the world so as to feel responsible, adult, intelligent, to feel like a good person. But I've learned that I'm not actually a good person if I'm unhappy. I’m miserable to be around when I’m unhappy and frankly I don’t care that much about helping others either; when I’m unhappy, that’s all I really care about: that I’m unhappy. 

Yet, when I take the quiet, personal time to align with my own personal happiness before turning my attention to the world, my generosity knows no bounds. Happiness allows me to bring forth my best; and my best is what I want most to share with the world. So it means giving myself conscious permission to be happy, understanding that my happiness may anger others, accepting that I may be judged by others as frivolous or uncaring. I have to respect myself enough to know what I know, and I know that for many reasons, happiness is more important to me than anything. 

What’s funny is that I first wrote this in 2018; here we are in 2026 and it all still applies. Which reminds me that as dicey as things now appear, there has actually never been a point in human history where everything was just chill; as long as we have existed, there has been turmoil and strife. Bearing that in mind, I think choosing happiness is always just that, a choice, and it requires strength in the context of society. It gets so tricky if you’re a good person; just remember that you can’t help anyone if you yourself are drowning. 

Namaste.