What I now see, really see, after reading the Corri/cac exchanges is that happiness and peace with oneself is a CHOICE. It is a choice. Each of us has the power within ourselves to be happy or not. And when I realized that, life seemed less scary. If I have the power, then I'm not a victim anymore. No matter what happens to me in my life, I can be happy if I DECIDE that I want to be happy and then pursue happiness. And this is true for EVERYONE.
My mother has a friend with MS who has FAR exceeded her life expectancy. She continued to walk and drive LONG after she should have been dead, based on her original prognosis. Her disease is quite advanced now, but even so, she is happy. She is happy because she chooses to be happy. She finds humor in her illness, and in herself. At the risk of sounding trite, she really is an inspiration.
If we are convinced that our lives our being negatively controlled by external factors beyond our control, we *will* always be at the mercy of someone else. And we will never be happy. And we will never have peace.
What I don't understand is why peace and happiness is so scary. Why is it preferable to stay stuck? What is so threatening about being happy? Why do we choose to be miserable?
