"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it." ~William Feather, 1889-1981, Writer

The Wanting Mind is our wounded self - the part of us that attaches our happiness and sense of worth to getting what we want.

However, wanting is not what creates problems for us. In fact, it is important to want, especially when what we want truly benefits us and others. Wanting more money so that we can be helpful to others, or wanting more time so we can move more into our creativity, or wanting a partner or children with whom to share our love, can motivate us to take the loving actions toward getting what we want.

Healthy wanting is visioning what you want because it is fun to vision, and brings you joy in the moment. You are happy in this moment, whether or not you get what you want. You feel happy because you are thinking and behaving in ways that bring you joy now, in this moment.

Visioning – to Control or to Love

If you are visioning what you want as a form of control – the way many people do to manifest what they want – and if your happiness and worth are attached to getting what you want rather than to the creative act of visioning, then you may be creating suffering for yourself. It is when we attach our happiness and worth to getting what we want that we create suffering.

It is crucial to your happiness to be conscious of your intent in visioning what you want. While the act of visioning might look exactly the same with the intent to control or the intent to love, how you end up feeling will be totally different. When you are visioning to control, not only will there be some tension in it, but you will feel let down by the universe if you don't get what you want.

When you are visioning because it is fun to do so, then you are already happy, and deeply grateful for what you have and for this moment in time. You don't have to get what you want to be happy - your happiness is now. 

Happiness is Now

Feeling happy and worthy is never about the future - it is about right now. It is about being completely here, in the truth of this present moment, with our feelings, our guidance, our external experience, and in deep gratitude for this present moment. When we are in this present moment, open hearted and in surrender to spirit, the peace, love and joy of spirit come through our open heart and we experience joy.

When we are trying to control the outcome of things, we are not in faith and trust that the infinite flow of goodness is always coming to us. We have closed our heart-door, shutting out the peace, love, joy, and abundance that are always flowing to us. We are missing life, missing the present moment of goodness and abundance that is here right now.

Imagine planting a seed for an oak tree. With water and sun, the tree can grow huge - a manifestation of the abundance that is always flowing. Our openhearted surrender is the water and sun that allows us to grow and manifest all that we are. Just as abundance is always coming to the tree, so it is always coming to us. We receive it when we are present in joy and truth and in deep gratitude for this moment.

Learn to connect with your spiritual guidance with Unlocking Your Inner Wisdom, A 30-Day at-home Experience with Dr. Margaret Paul.