You were Born a Bundle of Joy—and you can reclaim your birthright, right now

Added: August 7, 2009

Details: by Cindy Teevens

“Standing in Staples, waiting for my order, I stood with what I knew could be interpreted as a "stupid grin." I was so happy just standing there, just feeling the joy of being alive. Smiling broadly from ear-to-ear, gentle tingles flowed-up-and-down my body. Things got a little busy at the shop, and it took some time, but I could have just stood there in joy indefinitely.

Three times people who turned and looked at me were drawn, with a new smile as broad as mine, to ask if I needed help. They returned to their business in the mundane state they were in before. Looking around the room, scanning the six or so people working, I felt like I was going to burst—I felt like a child with a secret.

If they only knew that they could be doing what they are doing in a state of joy! They are doing it anyway!

That is my predominant state now, even when driving, doing laundry, doing dishes, and even when running in the rain. Whenever I "wake-up" from a less joyful feeling, and remember the options, a smile begins to spread the awakening of joy...”

Why would a grin be interpreted as "stupid"? Perhaps because it is not the "norm," not the way people usually go about their business. Society has handed-down "rules" about how we "should" be in any given situation, and feeling constant joy has not been the norm. If you have a "stupid grin" on your face, it is generally thought that something exceptional has happened to you. (Notice the assumption that something "outside" of you was the cause.)

I guess something exceptional has happened to me. I have learned that we can experience joy (or any other emotion or feeling) whenever we want to, no matter what is going on around you, and for no reason other than we want to—and that it is not exceptional! We were all born with this ability.

Ever notice how quickly a baby can switch from screaming to giggling? That was before they learned the "rules"; society's rules, and later their own rules. Before they learn to attach their feelings to outside events, children play quite joyfully on their own, for the pure joy of the joy.

Then something happens. Adults who get joy "from" seeing this, react to and with the child (thinking the child is the cause of their own joy), and the child experiences this reaction, thinks it gets joy from that; and this is the beginning of forgetting the cause and power of joy itself. At some point, it all becomes about getting outside attention, approval, and reaction. Even though the ability and power to choose our feelings is still always there, it stops being practiced. Even before a child has words to explain how they created joy, they have learned to give the power away.

Gradually we are taught that we only "get to" feel joy when we perceive love or acceptance from others (whether or not it is actually there). Or when we get something new, some toy, or ice-cream, and later bigger toys, cars, lovers, houses, children. These are the rules. The rules practically everyone else lives by. The bad news is that at some point, the toys don't get any bigger. And they become old, and so does the feeling (another rule!). But the joy (the ecstasy, even), can continue to grow, independent of what goes-on around you. You are capable of much more joy than you have lived and imagined. I encourage everyone to become adventurers, to question your handed-down assumptions about life and experience, and especially about what and where joy is, how much you can experience, and who or what has this power over your life.

Of course, there are also many "rules" for how, when, where, and why we “must” suffer. There is a lot of bad news out there to suffer-over, and we can choose to do just that. Reality is massive, and there is always something to celebrate-over at the same time as there is something available to suffer-over in any given moment. But the action of joy or suffering is unrelated to anything outside—and with these two polar opposites always available, there must be a choice made. And you do choose, usually unconsciously.

Suffering is bad for the body, the mind, the soul, for others, and the earth. Feelings drive our experience and our behaviour. How do you act when feeling negative? How productive or useful is that? How do you act when feeling good? What happens then? Life is meant to be fun, joyous, and light. And it can be.

I propose a new rule, not to live by, but to play by.

Here it is: There are no rules! There is only choice.

How you choose to feel about an event is how you will experience it. When I say feel, I literally, actually mean feel, not thinking about figuring-out how you "should" feel about it (more rules!). This is really an action, a movement of our "feeling" muscle, which has been out of your conscious control since childhood. You can choose to actually feel good in any moment, independent of whatever is going on around you, because the "muscle" and your body, which feels, is independent of what is going-on around you.

Choose how you want to feel first, and the supporting thoughts will follow. This is what happens in "normal," or common experience, but just in reverse with negative feeling. We have been just so programmed to automatically feel a certain way, that we mistook the bad feeling for the "truth," as if that were absolute reality. Then the thoughts about "why" we felt that way supported it. What a backwards way, what a way to be totally out-of-control of your life, of your experience!

When you begin to take control of your experience, at first it feels odd, and since you are challenging old beliefs, thoughts will try to send you down that slippery-slope. But you were born a bundle of joy, and you still are one—if you persist with not blaming the world around you, caring first and foremost about how you feel, and practicing Awakening Joy™, then that will become your habit, and you will step back into who you really are, back into your real power in life. It will open worlds, possibilities, and purpose for you. You will return to your natural joyful state, to your birthright.–Seek Joy!

Awakening Joy™ is a book, a story of suffering transcended into joy, and a simple practice anyone can do that will create a life full of constant joy.

There are awakening joy practice groups and gatherings, and the Awakening Joy™ practice is available free online, for anyone to learn and live: www.AwakeningJoy.ca

Cindy Teevens, author of Awakening Joy™ says, "It was through great suffering that unlimited, eternal joy came to me. People no longer need great suffering, and by practicing Awakening Joy™ you never need to suffer again." Her entire life changed dramatically, inside and out, and she now encourages everyone to –Seek Joy!