You can never attain happiness through circumstances, you can only BE Happy!

Yesterday, when I was at the post office mailing out some late Christmas presents, I got talking with the postal worker who was helping me mail out my gifts.  I told her how much I love this post office - how the people who work here are always so friendly and you rarely find this at other post offices. It's just plain refreshing. She said that it's the energy of the people that live here. She told me that she works at another post office near by and it's nothing like this one. Folks are always in a hurry and nobody smiles at one another. She hates going to that post office and is always left feeling depleted at the end of the day. 

She then went on to tell me a story that I was very moved by. She said that one night during the Christmas chaos with lines out the doors in Takoma Park - she was starting to feel exhausted and overwhelmed by the crowds. She found herself just going through the motions of the job, not really feeling the customers she was assisting. Then suddenly the whole crowd of customers started to sing Christmas carols together! She said it just filled her heart with joy and warmed her spirit. It made what could have been a not so fun night, truly uplifting.

I love this story and wanted to share it with everyone because this joy is the truth of who we are. This joy and happiness is the source of our very beings - and can be expressed and felt anywhere, anytime, despite the circumstances. Even in the greatest of suffering, our hearts will shine light if we allow the pain of this world to be felt and not lose sight of our deeper essence. It is so important for us to remember this - we do not live in a vacuum. Our energy affects one another all the time. I love that the crowd chose to sing and used their energy to feel something deeper than the habituated unhappiness that we can all get caught up in. 

May all of us remember who we really are and read between the lines of our lives in every moment - especially the difficult ones. May the negative energy that seems to dominate this world be felt and out-shined by all!

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