In the Pursuit of Happiness

Keep your feet on the ground and your head in the clouds. Stay grounded and enjoy the present moment. And never stop dreaming!

What a year and a half it's been!

If there is one thing I have learned living in the time of COVID, it is this: 

To live my best life, I must continue to show up while letting go of expectations.

Dreams and expectations are two very different things.

Dreams call for a leap of faith so that you may continue in the re-creation of the world with your energy, gifts and vision.

Expectations are the emotional investment the ego makes in a particular outcome, and if it doesn't turn out the way we thought it should, we are unhappy.

Since none of us can predict the future or the best possible outcome for our authentic path, this way of thinking is only going to limit us. Because if we don't live up to the ego's expectations, we have failed yet again.

The stress and loss through this pandemic have affected each of us and in many different ways.

I lost my three studio teaching positions overnight. It was a heartbreak for me to lose what I had worked towards and studied so intensely.

After three months of sulking, I knew it was time to show up again. How? To offer my classes outdoors. I began offering classes at the local parks, bluffs and beaches.

Did yogis show up? Sometimes and often not. Everyone was dealing with their own stuff and in their own way. Yet, this powerful voice in my head said, "Just keep showing up!" And that has been my motto.

I try to live by this quote from Dr. William James, the author of The Principles of Psychology:

"I approach my work with a passionate intensity, acting as if its success depends entirely on me. But once I've done my best, I try to let go as much as possible and have no expectations about how my work will be received by the world. I have consciously chosen to be surprised by joy. It's a choice you can make as well."

How freeing it is to allow the passionate pursuit of dreams to give wings to your heart. By simply doing your best to dream, pursue and then detach.

With Spirit as your safety net, you can pursue happiness more directly when you don't get caught up in the delivery details.

Dreaming, not expecting, allows Spirit to step in and surprise you with new possibilities you hadn't begun to imagine.

Invite each new day to be just that... a new day of possibility when we are able to let go and embrace change.

Today, try to get real and personal about the pursuit of happiness.

What is it that lights you up and brings joy?

How can you bring more of that into your days?

Follow your dreams with all your heart and trust in the wings that carry them.