What do you want in your life? Do you want to be happy and fulfilled, or miserable and downtrodden?
Comfy vs. Happy
Some of us decide we want to be miserable.
Why might that be? Because it's all we know, and we fear the unknown.
But you cannot let yourself be consumed by fear. While danger is very real, fear is not. Fear is the biggest obstacle to realizing desire. And yet... it's not even real. It is purely imagined.
Sure, desire is all in the head too; heck, everything is. This means we have total control over fear.
Yes, what makes fear scary is that we feel controlled by our fears. But this happens because we direct our fears to control us-- often without realizing it. When we do that, we semi-consciously tell our fear, “Hey man, that's good stuff- keep it comin'.”
But why do we do that? Because, the known is comfy. Stagnation is comfy. If it's what we know, misery is comfort. People like patterns, and people like what they know, so combine the two and it's easy to get a miserable mess that perpetuates itself.
Become Aware of Your Patterns
The same is true for higher states of being, too. If happiness is what we know, then that is what we shall perpetuate. All it takes to turn happiness into your new comfy pajamas is a little bit of pushing. This effort doesn't feel like pushing for long, because the results are so wonderful.
What else would you expect from high conscious awareness? What you want, you act on. What you act on, you perpetuate. Life's patterns run on a positive feedback loop. If you don't like what you're attracting into your life you'll have to throw a monkey wrench into the equation and make that positive a negative which will, in time, become a positive.
We like what we know, but we like to learn new things, too. Learning and discovering can be incredibly satisfying. That's why we have science. Ask any scientist about why they pursue their work and that's probably what they'll tell you. You can't do better until you know better.
So, first you must learn, then you must become aware, then you must learn some more, and then you must act-- and then you'll learn more. If you're headed in the right direction you're likely to enjoy yourself at some point along the way there-- ideally, every step of the way.
So, what are you doing to improve your life right now? Are you learning? Are you acting? Are you even aware of yourself? Please tell me you're enjoying yourself! Get aware, face the facts, and then act as you know you must.
In a nutshell, that's how life works. You can put this process into any form you wish. Even if you are unaware of the whole truth you must be acknowledging something if you are acting, and you are always acting-- even if it doesn't seem that way.
But if you are turning a cheek or are even completely blind to a truth about yourself, your actions are wasted energy. Think you have no control? Think again. Evidence follows beliefs, and beliefs are a choice. They are not something given to you from a higher power, nor are they irreversibly installed in you by your parents.
Beliefs
Beliefs are also much more impactful and wide-reaching than you may think. All that you perceive is a product of your beliefs. Every one of your thoughts is a belief. There aren't just your religious and political beliefs. There are beliefs related to science (big bang, evolution), beliefs about human nature, beliefs about the nature of life (e.g. life has to be a struggle- !), and the belief that the color of your underwear is purple.
While that last one may appear to be a "hard" fact (or false statement), it is only a product of perception. Purple, like all colors, exists in the mind-- and only in the mind. There is no purple “out there.” Other animals and even other people may not see that your underwear are purple, so how can you prove that they are? Though one of the less controllable beliefs, it is a belief nonetheless.
Some beliefs are extremely difficult to overturn, such as a belief in gravity, but generally these are not the ones that need changing (I like gravity- let's keep it!). So, don't tell me that you can't change. That in itself is a belief: as long as you believe that you direct no control over your beliefs because they were just bestowed upon you, you will remain stagnant and inflexible.
No Permission Necessary
You have permission to do as you wish here on Earth. Yes, there may be sanctions for your actions, but this does not mean you cannot carry them out. You always have a choice. Always! And unless you're a convict with a long, dirty history, there's a good chance those sanctions won't be so bad anyhow (and of course they, like all things, exist only in your mind. OooOooh!). Not only that, but this permission is omnipresent and everlasting in that it doesn't exist, because you don't need it. But if you don't believe me, then you can have permission from me. Now good day to you ;) (Well, almost).
Dissolving Beliefs
Sometimes we come to fear what we know. How does this happen? We attract a fear. Sometimes just as we are coming to realize our hopes we lose them. This phenomenon is rooted in fear of success, the product of one or many disempowering beliefs.
How do we combat these beliefs? First, become aware of them. Write them out exactly as they are. Then think of alllll the possible ways of how you came to instill them in yourself. Finally, recognize (1) that events and objects have no inherent meaning, as meaning is merely the product of beliefs, and (2) the beliefs serving you are no good and you don't need them anymore. You can let them go and be okay- especially if you replace them with something better (!).
Misery or Growth: The Choice is Yours
There is no good or evil inherent in success. You can make success to be a wonderful thing or a phenomenon to be dreaded and avoided at all costs.
You can choose comfortable, miserable stagnation or wild and fun growth. The choice is yours, and is yours always. Choose well, and choose consciously. It's a good life out there, if only you know how to create it J.