Lately, I noticed in discussions that unhappiness and sadness may be seen as the same thing. I believe that this is not the case. In my opinion, happiness is an inner concept we recognize as part of who we are. It has nothing to do with subjective, personal assessments of situations that we allow to influence us from the outside. Otherwise, that would mean we are dependent on particular circumstances or the goodwill of others. But that is not true. I remembered a post I wrote many years ago and would like to share it again:

Even the happiest people are sad at times. Things go wrong, disappointments and losses happen. If we have an open heart and feel love, then we also feel pain. But that is not a bad thing. Feeling sad means that we can feel. If someone tells me to never feel sad about anything, then I think that person either lies or ignores their feelings, which is only a suppression of things they may be scared to look at. Never accepting sadness (here I am at this unhealthy way of positive thinking) will start growing inside like cancer and eating that person up.

I want to be sad when sad things happen. I want to be angry when something irritates me. But that doesn’t mean that I am unhappy or hateful. We are human beings, and we are here to live. Life simply comes with feelings. This is why we wanted this life. That is what helps us develop. Out of those feelings, we are acting, making new experiences, and developing insights. How we feel is a result of our consciousness, the way we look at life, the world, and ourselves. We want to feel the life down here for feeling ourselves. Due to the part everybody plays here, we have to face so many situations. All of them cause feelings or emotions, and all are part of our physical experience in this lifetime. Since we are all different in our personalities and how we go through this life we need specific experiences. What seems like a piece of cake for one can make another one crash. Just recently, I talked to a friend here and said that we all can feel different about the same situation but can feel similar through different situations.

However, feeling sad doesn’t mean that I am unhappy. I cannot be happy and unhappy at the same time, but I can be in that powerful state of happiness and experience a sad or even challenging situation deeply. Some people think they are not allowed to be happy when sad things happen. They believe it would be inappropriate and that they have to be unhappy because people may expect it or that they really believe that happiness is not meant for them anymore. I have to say that they misunderstood life! Nobody is supposed to be unhappy in any situation! Because you only really live when you have access to your happiness – in any situation!

I consider myself a happy person. I discovered happiness as something that has nothing to do with short-term emotions. Happiness to me is a state of being, a point of view, an inner concept. Happiness is what comes when you feel love. So, when you feel love inside, you automatically fuel yourself with positive vibes that are called happiness. Happiness will give you that solid ground beneath your feet when everything seems to fall apart. You may not notice it due to your natural attitude. But when you have this inner concept of happiness, you won’t dwell too long in sadness. You will understand that those emotions are temporary and there to make you feel life and to see more in it. You will gain the energy to stand up again. You will see more behind any situation. You will always look up because you know that even after the darkest night, the sun will dawn again. You will never lose hope and always find ways to move on because you understand that life is for living. Whatever happens in life is not a way of making it as hard as possible but as educative as possible. Love your life, and life will love you back!

In Love and Light