How will I recognize my Bliss

Sometimes we follow a path hoping it will take us where we want to go in life.  We trudge along waiting for that life changing experience that will make us happy.  We think if we get the job of our dreams that it will change or life for the better.  If we make upper management and get that corner office that the world will be our oyster.  That if we marry the person of our dreams and plan a life together that our mission in life will be complete and we will finally be happy.

These are all temporary situations that fate, time and destiny can steal away from us.  In the downturn of the economy many jobs have become redundant, many upper managements positions have become outdated, and many times that perfect person is human and we discover years down the line that they have either become a stranger to us or they have evolved into someone we no longer recognize.  You cannot base your bliss on aspects of your life that could dissolve before your very eyes.

Your home can be lost in a fire or natural disaster, you marriage could dissolve due to miscommunications or even bad life choices.  All of these things can change and be gone like smoke on the wind. You bliss however cannot, it is not a physical state or material positions.  You bliss is where you find happiness and how you get through tough times.

Many people find solace in religion, they follow a set list of rules that at some point they felt applied to their lives.  As their lives change their faith in those in rules may become stronger or it may be threatened.  I think that those who are able to cling to those beliefs without fear or doubt are blessed.  They always have their religious affiliations to find solace in and hopefully they also find bliss in that life choice.  As long as they aren't trying to penalize others for believing differently than they, do no harm no foul.

Finding your bliss also means respecting others enough to allow them the same freedoms you have found in your own life.  It doesn't mean trying to convince others that you path is the only path or treating them as though they are incapable of making their own life choices.  There is no harm in praying for others, or lighting candles or sending positive healing energy their direction as long as it doesn't interfere with their own free will.  It means respecting others and treating them as you yourself would want to be treated, even if others are at that state in their development.  It is a state of mind regarding what makes you happy and having the freedom to pursue those dreams and goals. Regardless of what others may think of those goals and dreams.  It means finding out what works for you and applying that knowledge to your own personal life.

Sometimes finding your bliss can be complicated, sometimes it can be just out of your reach but in your gut you know it is there.  Sometimes it comes in unusual ways or due to unforeseen circumstances.  It doesn't happen because you wake up one morning and say I am going to be happy dammit.  It comes because you open up your heart and your mind to the possibility of it.  It happens when you least expect it and when you have dreamed of it for years.  It is nothing and everything all rolled up in a ball of cotten candy and tied with a red velvet ribbon. It is what happens when you are busy living your life.

Sometimes your bliss may be standing right in front of you but if you are ready to accept it, it will remain a mystery to you.  Many times I have passed by things that could have made me happy but due to the circumstance I was currently living I refused to acknowledge their presence.  I was so busy keeping my eye on the long term goals I had in my minds eye that I was blind to things staring me right in the face.  Finding your bliss means opening your eyes and finding happiness where ever it may be.  It means being able to find joy in the little things in life and being able to welcome new experiences for a chance of growth and enlightenment.

Finding your bliss means that if given the chance to have a new experience you don't turn away and ignore it, you weigh the pros and cons in your life to see if it is something that might be a new life altering experience.  It means even if you have never had an interest in something not taking a chance to see if perhaps there might be something there to in some way make your life a little bit better. Maybe not by the actual project but by the new friends you make along the way.

Many times I have attended a class I might not have had an interest in but went anyway, just to be able to say OK I tried that, wasn't my cup of tea but most of the people I met were amazing. They were following their own bliss and having new experiences by doing so.  I am not saying that you have to run out and sign up for every low cost or free class out there. Pick and choose what things you would like to know more about or things that might prove to help you find your bliss. Be that cooking or wine making, or painting or whatever.  I may have no skills in that particular area and I might truly suck at it, but if it makes me happy and makes my life better than it is time well spent.  If it turns out to be something that brings me no happiness or in any way make my life better then I try to take a look around me at those in the class. We all have similar interest in one way or another.  It might not be our passion but it might be a similar interest in our families, life goals, or even just saving money or living healthier.  You just never know until you take the leap and try something different.

Will every path you take lead you to where you want to go?  No, but every path you take, every mistake you make along the way will help you learn more about yourself until you know who you truly are inside and out.  I like to remind my darling husband that had I not dated before we met I would not have firmly planted in my head what I will and will not accept in a relationship.  All that time I spent dating those who didn't fit into my ideal helped me see first hand exactly what I wanted and in the process learned where my own boundaries lay.  I do not regret the mistakes of my past because they helped me become the person I was meant to be.

There is only a waste of your energy and your time if you do not learn something from the experience.  I like to believe that everything happens for a reason.  That often times road blocks and speed bumps come up to test my determination to make my dreams a reality.  That without them I wouldn't truly appreciate the end result when I get there nor would I recognize bliss when I am nose to nose with it.

Yes some rain does fall into my life on occasion, yes I do wake up some days and go really, another day this side of the dirt blanket, I don't wanna.  I am not a happy person by nature, believe it or not.  But every day I get up, face whatever the day is going to throw at me, try hard to find the happiness in the whole experience, not simply the moments and get one small step closer to the things I enjoy and I create the life I want one very small baby step at a time.

I have those days when nothing goes right.  My coffee has grounds in it.  I slip in the mud while walking my dog in the cold rain and bust my butt and cover myself in the mud.  But when those kind of days hit I may sit in that cold mud with the rain hitting me in the face and just for a  moment try to be thankful for what went right.  I woke up, there is a major accomplishment.  I am at an age when it isn't uncommon for those I have known my entire life to pass in their sleep.  I have had many friends who didn't make it to the age I have.  I am sitting on the hard ground covered in mud and I am thankful for the mud, it is said to do wonderful things for your skin.  I can feel the stinging rain on my face which means that I can still feel things even if they aren't the most blissful feelings in the world.  I am thankful for all the blessings in my life large and small alike.  I do not delineate between large and small blessings. Blessings are blessings regardless of their size.

Finding your happiness is a state of mind, it isn't being the most beautiful, or talented, it isn't being the richest or the most famous.  It is being happy no matter what gets thrown in your path.  It is learning to embrace those difficult times and making them your own.  It means the ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and continue on.  It means having the state of mind that it will all work out in the end and that nothing happens without a reason.

Sometimes we won't recognize our bliss even when it is standing in front of us.  It will be a stranger to us because we have not opened our eyes and our hearts to the wonderful possibilities that lay in front of us.  It is like searching your entire life for the perfect partner only to realize that they have been standing by your side all along but you were to blind or to focused to realize the true potential they have in your life to make it all the better.

In order to find your true bliss you must be willing to look at life as it really is.  You take off those rose colored glasses to discover that although the world isn't a rose garden it does have many aspects in that can and do make us happy when we allow them to.  It is about learning to live in the moment while still holding firm to those long term goals.  It means finding happiness where you can find it no matter how big or how small and living in that moment. Learning to stop and smell the roses even when you cannot afford to buy the flowers.

I hope my blog today has given you some food for thought. I hope that you take a moment in your day to look around you and truly enjoy the beauty that surrounds us all but many are so oblivious to that we are blind to them.  It doesn't cost anything to stop and look around, and the world isn't going to end if you are two minutes behind schedule because you took the time to stop and admire the clouds or smell that beautiful flower, or just compliment a complete stranger on how good they smell or how pretty the look today.  I have also found that random acts of kindness make me feel better.  Buying a strangers coffee or complimenting a complete stranger just because I can. But I am odd like that.

Until Tomorrow blog buddies, stay safe, stay sane, and be happy.

Some people would see a cold winter day, an old wheel-barrel turned on its belly and the cold ice dripping off it.  A gardener in hiatus if you will. I see something completely different.  I see the beautiful patterns the ice has created on the barrel.  I see the possibility of my future garden.  I see in my minds eye hours of happiness spent digging in the dirt and creating food where before it was only a seed and dirt.  I see my bliss.  Sometimes the most mundane things in life can bring you the most happiness.  It is all a matter of perspective.

Keeping your bliss in hard economic times

I have heard many people say that being happy cost money, money they don't have in their budget.  Or that being happy cost time, time they don't have in their schedules to the rising cost of living.  I say being unhappy cost you a lot more in the long run. Additional medical bills for ailments that could be prevented by simply taking the needed time to follow your bliss.

Following your bliss can be expensive, yes if you allow it to be. It can cost in classes, materials, or even in expenditures not normally in your budget.  But it can also be inexpensive the choice is yours. If you want to do something you will always find a way. If you want to learn a skill you can often ask around of others who might know of a class you can audit for free (Audit: to sit in but not receive credit for the class).  There might be free or low cost classes offered through your local school, sometimes a local college, other times a local high school.  There are lots of folks who will offer free classes that you simply have to provide the materials needed to learn a new skill or try out a new hobby.  There are options.

If you passion is writing, it doesn't cost anything to set up a free blog and flex those writing muscles. If your passion is painting, you can often find second hand materials on such sites as Craig's list or freecycle available from those either updating their supplies or simply not doing something any longer.  You can purchase inexpensive which may not last as long but in the long run will help you get your feet wet and see if something is really your bliss verses laying out a small fortune for something you have always wanted to try but are unsure if it is something you will enjoy.

Craigs List City Listing

Freecycle Network

Another great option is check around at your local thrift stores and during warmer months yard sales. Many times you can find things you need for next to nothing, either on sale on through cash sales.  Get creative, recycle, reuse, and do what you need to do in order to follow your bliss without breaking the bank. Many thrift stores have 1/2 price sale days, it just takes a little research to learn when those days are. This is also a great way to build a basic wardrobe for next to nothing to begin living and looking like the life you desire.  I got my favorite pair of boots, which are english riding boots brand new with the stickers still on them at a Goodwill for 16 dollars and used my student discount to get a further discount on them which retail for around 85 dollars. I adore them, they fit like they were made for me and I have worn them many times over the last few months during colder weather paired with leggings and an oversized shirt or with jeans and a sweater.  Making that investment in yourself will  not only make you feel better it will make you look better in the long run. I don't pay retail for anything if I can help it. I am the Queen of cheap when it comes to following my bliss.

Goodwill

Ebay

Dollar Tree

Where there is a will there is a way.  When it comes to time, I say if something makes you happy you will budget your time to be able to pursue it, even if it is only on your down days, or once a month. You need to find what makes you happy and make it a priority in your life.  If you do not you will continue on the path of doing what you do every day and never realize your full potential.  You can spend your life merely existing or you can take that giant leap of faith and invest in yourself to make it a reality.

I have many passions that I enjoy. I enjoy gardening. One way that I cut my cost of pursing this passion I have started my own seeds using seed pods made out of recycled toilet paper rolls.  I save my own seeds from the plants I had the year before and often harvest wild seeds to keep it within our budget. The end result is doing something I enjoy while keeping the cost of doing it to a minimum.  I get food grade buckets from our local bakery for .99 cents a piece as containers for my little garden and drill holes in the bottom using my husband drill and a good sized bit.  This gives me something I can use from year to year without making the major investment in planters. I purchase the cheapest dirt possible and use a tea I make from compost from our kitchen and worm droppings I put I put in a recycled bathtub with a screen over the drain and a 5 gallon food grade bucket under it to add nutrients to the soil.

This doesn't cost us anything because it is outside and fed by the rain, which for the moment is still free to harvest in our area.  The cast offs would thrown away and the worms cost me around 5 dollars total at our local bait shop and reproduce freely in the rich compost.  When it is all said and done I save a bundle on the organic food I would be purchasing for my plants and end up with a healthy productive plant that helps to feed my family.

Sometimes following your bliss just takes a little creativity and determination.  I enjoy making wine and beer at home.  I harvest my own berries from my garden for the wine, the cost of the yeast is around 1 dollar a pack and it makes 5 gallons at a time using a food grade 5 gallon bucket. Instead of purchasing bottles I asked my friends to start saving me glass wine bottles and beer bottles and in exchange I share my end result. It would take me years to drink 5 gallons of wine anyway so the end result is I get my friends and family involved in my bliss, make it into a community project and all enjoy the end result which not only taste better but is healthier because it lacks the preservatives found in commercially prepared alcoholic beverages. I have a fresh batch starting as soon as I finish my last for the next holiday. Today I am getting ready to sweeten the batch I am preparing for Valentines day and at Christmas I gave bottles of homemade blackberry wine instead of paying for gifts for those I love.  Its a win win regardless of the cost because it makes me take that time to do something I love as well as sharing it with those important in my life.

Every person has a different list of things that make them happy.  You can often find free advise on line, free youtube videos to help you learn a new skill, as well as others who are following their bliss in a particular field and are more than happy to share that knowledge and skill.  It just takes opening your eyes and looking around to find them.  Once you master a skill it is best to help others who would like to learn the same skill, which not only increases your knowledge by increasing the circle of friends you have in that particular area but also gives you a network of brand new folks who can advise, instruct and hopefully you will all learn from each other.

For those who say they cannot afford to follow their bliss, I say you aren't willing to make that investment in yourself. Regardless of what you want in life you have to earn it. It isn't going to fall into your lap just because you want something. You must go out and seek it.  You must be willing to make time in your schedule or willing to invest in the basic materials to pursue what makes you happy.  You weren't born and fell into your dream job you had to acquire training and knowledge in the field, be that through school or many hours of doing independent research.  If you want something you have to put the work into acquiring it in order to truly enjoy the end result.

I hope my blog has given you ideas for pursuing your own personal dreams and goals. Always exercise caution when meeting new people from offline and make sure to let others know where you are going and take a friend along for safety.  There are some crazy folks out there and it is always best to err on the side of caution if they haven't been recommended by a trusted friend or if you are for any reason feeling uneasy about meeting those you have never met before.

That said, I hope my blog today gives you some ideas on how to follow your bliss on a budget.  How to do what makes you happy even during hard economic times and make yourself happy in the process.  Life is way to short to be miserable and even shorter if you allow it to pass you by without taking the time you need to find your inner happiness.

Until Tomorrow my blog buddies, be safe, be sane, and be happy.

Some ideas for creating a crafting space for next to nothing by utilizing craigs list and organize your space for following your bliss if your bliss is creating crafts.

Happiness is a State of Mind

I have heard it said if you don't mind it don't matter.  I think this is true of everything in life.  Happiness like Sadness is a state of mind. Some people choose to dwell in that dark place where everything is sad or depressing or saps their mental and emotional energy.  Happiness is a choice.

We all have things that make us sad, or angry, or even depressed.  We lose friends, we lose jobs, we lose family members, and we lose homes. We lose things that are important to us but I have seen those who are living on the street alone with nothing to their name that they cannot carry that have found a way to be happy.

They may be living out of a shopping cart but they celebrate every victory and for them waking up is a victory.  They know a secret to happiness that many long to understand. That material possessions do not make you happy. There is no guarantee in life,  there is no rule that says if you get that promotion you have been working for you will finally be happy.  If you find that perfect mate you will be happy.  If you hit the lottery you will be happy. These are material things and material things can be taken away.

That spouse can stop loving you or die or leave.  That job can be lost or cease to exist, that money from the lottery if not well invested can be lost or given away or spent. These are temporary things, they do not last nor will the happiness they bring to your life.  Happiness is a state of mind.

I have known many people who have the least amount of material possessions that are blissfully happy, why I have often asked are they so happy when those I know with the most are unhappy ones.  The ones with so much more often long for that next bigger better deal.  They work day in and day out to achieve this ideal of what makes them happy.  The surrender themselves in pursuit of an ideal that does not exist in reality.

They strive to reach a place of true happiness through ownership of possessions instead of taking that long hard look within themselves and find that level of tranquility that is not bought but is earned.  Now I am not saying immediately go out and give up all your worldly possessions.  Or join a monastery and forsake all material possessions. But I am saying look within your own soul and find that which makes you happy and pursue it.

That may be creating something or doing something that makes you happy.  It might be growing as a human being through community involvement or through helping others.  It might even be simply finding the calm happy place in your soul through meditation or Yoga and when life throws you a curve ball being able to go there in your mind and refocus you energy and keep that true happiness from slipping away.

There are many ways to find happiness, there as as many ways as there are people who are pursuing it. Talk to those who have found true happiness and find out what path they took to get there. Some of the methods they used may help you find your own, they may not, but if you don't seek happiness you will never find it.

When we are children we are delighted with the simplest joys in life.  We often times receive gifts that are elaborate and expensive but find ourselves playing with the cardboard box the gift came in because it is colorful and alights our imagination and becomes a castle or a spaceship or a refrigerator if we enjoy playing cook.  Life isn't about having the best of everything, it about making the most of what we have.

I want everyone today to think back to when they were children and those moments of awe and wonder at how incredible our universe is.  Take a moment today or this week to just stop and smell the roses.  If you live in an area that roses aren't available wander past a bakery and just stop to inhale the divine scents drifting out of the fresh baked goods coming out of the oven.  Stop and star up at the stars and try to count them, you will quickly realize that in the bigger scheme of things you are only a microscopic dust particle floating through the air and that no matter what you may achieve in your career and your life someone will come along in a few years and blow those records out of the water.

We cannot find happiness in owning the biggest house, or driving the fastest newest car, or even marrying the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing person.  Because in the end those things really don't matter and the happiness they bring into our lives is fleeting when that house burns to the ground or is lost in a natural disaster with all those material possessions inside, or that car is a few years old and scratched and dented and no longer the fastest thing on the road.  Or we wake up one day and realize that the perfect spouse is human and has flaws we choose not to see in the beginning.  Then suddenly you are in search of the next big thing to bring you happiness.

Instead of searching for something that doesn't exist. Instead of trying to find a temporary happiness in a place true happiness doesn't exist.  True happiness exist in your soul.  It is the things we all have in our lives or should have in our lives that help us grow and evolve into the people we born to be.  It that state of nirvana where no matter what goes wrong we escape to and find ourselves.

Take this journey with me to find that inner strength that fuels your own fire. Find yourself in the process and discover what it takes to be truly happy.  Find out what makes you personally happy be that a hobby, a passion, or even just a  new life skill.  Find out what gives you that one thing that nothing else on this planet can.

Life is filled with potholes, things that shake us to the very core and make us realize that not everything is going to last and that every day will bring with it new challenges and new goals.  What may make us happy today may make us sad tomorrow. As humans we are ever changing every growing and ever needing to finding new and exciting ways to stir that inner goddess in us all.

Some people find their true happiness in giving of themselves, in act and thought.  If that is your true happiness find a way to channel that energy into constructive ways to make that happen.  Some people find their true happiness in creating, be that writing, photography, painting, music, or even sculpture.  Then go do that, take a class, hone that skill make things that make you happy and help you express that inner creative genius. 

This journey is not for the weak of heart. It is not for those unwilling to actually face those inner demons you find along the way.  You may find yourself facing things that you thought had already run their course and were long gone. During this discovery process you may learn that things you had already put behind you rear their ugly heads for you to finally once and for all really put to rest.  We can bury our past but we cannot run from it. It will linger in those dark corners of our heart until we finally put them down and walk away from them to never return again. And then at the worst moment they rear their ugly heads again in a new situation and a new life we have created.  But if we face those fears and problems head on and deal with them. Allowing our hearts and minds to process the information then we can honestly say that those things are no longer an issue for us.  This might include jealousy, or a fear of being alone, or even a fear of disappointing those we love.

Embrace your flaws, we all have them.  If you have always had body images take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror.  You body will change with time and age.  The things that you hate right now in 20 or 30 years won't really matter.  It won't be in the same place it won't look or feel the same and worst case scenario if you really hate it that much change it.  Do what you need to do to make yourself happy.  Find that happiness and surround yourself with the things that make you happy.  Search inside yourself for what brings you the most happiness today, right this minute.  If it changes then evolve with it, change and adapt to keep that true happiness.

If doing something makes you happy today but a year from now no longer stirs those happiness feelings let it go.  If it no longer works for you it is the universes way of saying it is time to move on and to try something new.  If you find that walking away from it helps and returning to it later helps do it.

In my lifetime I have had many things that made me happy, and for some reason or another I lost my way to that place. I have simply walked away and revisited that place at another time in the future. Photography made me very happy but I got bored with it and walked away from it.  I am now finding my way back to it.  Not because I have run out of other things that make me happy but I want to re-explore this part of my self and see if I can find the same happiness in that activity that I once did.

Some true happiness survive a lifetime, some are passing fancies.  Much like the people in our lives we outgrow or surpass the things that make us happy.  Since we are ever changing and evolving sometimes we need to find new things to excite us and sometimes we just need to take a break from the things we once enjoyed so much. Take a vacation of sorts from the things that no longer work for you.  If you have always enjoyed painting but are burned out from it walk away. Take a huge box and put those art supplies away in storage. You don't have to get rid of it but sometimes you do need to take a break.  In 6 months or a year revisit that place in your life.  Are you ready to once again pick up that paint brush and paint with your whole heart, if not consider getting rid of it. Many times things don't wait for us to get back around to them.  If we take a break from people they often move forward in their lives and create lives that don't include you.  In painting, paints can go bad with time so it is best to release those things back into the universe so that others who need them in their lives right now can take advantage of things we no longer need to make us happy.

Well I hope my words today have given all some food for thought.  Some things to consider along their own personal path of finding themselves and their true happiness.  I hope that this stirs those feelings in your soul for the things that bring you joy and help you remember that the only person who can truly make you miserable or make you blissfully happy is yourself.  You cannot control the actions of others, but you can control your reactions to those actions and how much you allow them to define you is up to you.

I found this website I wanted to share regarding some tips for finding that true happiness.  I hope it helps others get some ideas for ways to make their happiness a reality.  I hope it stirs within your belly the desire to be happy and to pursue what makes you happy. Where there is a will there is a way. Many times people say I cannot afford to be happy.  Being sad or depressed can take a toll as well both mentally and physically.  Can you really afford not to be happy?  Can you truly spare another year, another day, or even another moment living a life that isn't true or real to your soul?

Being Happy and finding your Bliss

If you cannot afford to purchase the things the items needed to pursue your dreams ask around, check out free sites that often give things away to those who act quickly.  Get creative, ask friends, and family members for gifts that will further your dreams of happiness instead of the things you don't want or don't need.  Save your pennies until you can afford with that higher goal in mind.

If you want something bad enough you will find a way, if you don't you will eventually get bored and move on with your life.  I hope all who are reading my blogs are well and pursing their own happiness.  I want to thank everyone who has read my blog, shared my blog or discussed my blog with others. You are the reason I am reaching my dreams and goals.  I hope that the tips I have shared today help you find that true happiness we all long for and that they help you get one step closer to finding the real you.

Until Tomorrow blog buddies, be safe, be sane and be happy.

This crossed my desk a few days ago and wanted to share it with you I am including a link to the site this was found on as well for those who want to take a closer look or just examine this further.

Thanksgiving Inspired Friday Week 7