Can we decide to be happy  no matter what is occurring in our lives? Can we decide to be happy even when we are in the middle of a deep dark period?

First, I think I need a definition of happiness. It is not the cliche definition I was taught. It’s not about lollypops and roses and merry-go-rounds. Happiness is not a superficial exterior facade. It isn’t relegated to what’s happening outside of us.

Happiness is a choice and it is something far more deep and eternal. Happiness is a state of being that is a deep contentment within myself. Happiness is deep satisfaction. Happiness means that I am at peace in the midst of anything I am experiencing. Happiness is a surrender to the mystery of life.

There has been so many moments of seeming darkness and despair around me lately. The need to be totally present in Truth is my only vocation right now. It’s pouring rain on Kaua’i right now, which is so metaphorical. Rain is considered a blessing from Heaven by the people of Kaua’i. We are grateful for the blessing. However, like happened last April in the North, sometimes it is a blessing in the sense that it is a clearing out of the old and a bringing in of the new. I am not surprised that it has been raining so heavily these past few days. For me, it is a release of all that doesn’t serve. It is making ready for all that is to be embraced.

No matter what the people around me are experiencing – illness and the passing to the next realm – I know that something mysterious and amazing must be happening for all of us. I trust this. We are evolving as a species. I am grateful to glimpse into the eternal aspects of everything that is occurring. I am grateful that I have decided to be happy no matter what, even in my sadness for my friends and loved ones. Even in my own challenges. I’m not in a state of dancing and singing quite yet, but I am in a state of trust and surrender. I am in a state of loving life and trusting its eternality. I am in a state of being okay with not understanding everything. I am in a state of just being. I am in a state of healing.

The Power we are using is moved by emotion. When I make the decision to be happy, I am telling the Universal Energy that I trust It to bring me to just the right place in every moment. When I make a decision to be happy, I am making a decision to trust the light that is always present in the darkness. When I make a decision to be happy, I am saying that this Power that breathes and lives through all of us is Good and that It is for us, not against us. When I make a decision to be happy, I’m saying all is always well and that Divine Right Action is always in place.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita