The Unhappiest People in the World Make This Mistake

By Paul Lenda

Staff Writer for Wake Up World

Do you care about what other people think of you? If so, you’re destined to be unhappy. The unhappiest people in this world are those who care the most about what others think of them.

It’s not always easy to feel free of the mental prison we create for ourselves, especially when we are younger and seek to be accepted by our peers. However, if you do not at some point decide to remove the self-imposed shackles of what others may or may not think about you, you will always be their prisoner.

How to Experience Authentic and Sustained Happiness

I began learning long ago that those who are the happiest (authentically happy) are those who are do what they feel is their soul’s urge do to, as well as those who do the most for others. These are the two major sources of sustained happiness that I have found.

Happiness won’t last long if we’re using money, material things, people, and anything else as something we are dependent on for that happiness. Happiness is an inside job that springs forth from selfless acts and the liberation of our consciousness.

Following your heart is a way of liberating ourselves from the mental prison you may have created for yourself. Expanding the connection we feel between our awareness and our heart is going to help with us being more guided by the powerful heart-field.

The heart will encourage you to practice kindness, day and night, to friends and perceived enemies alike. This is not to say that you should not stand your ground (stay in your power and energy) when there is hostility projected towards you, but you will be practicing a Bodhisattva-like compassion that has the power to transmute energy. You are more powerful than you may realize, especially when you maintain higher/expanded consciousness.

The heart-field also encourages you to follow what moves your soul and makes it expand. Whatever this may be that you were shy, embarrassed, or afraid to express is something you should step outside your comfort zone to embrace. Whatever your soul is attracted to is where your Zone of Genius is. This can be anything from expressing your energy through one of the arts, to sharing your perspective of the Truth to others, to getting involved in an initiative or movement that you strongly believe in.

Being virtuous and selfless is the other major path of sustained and authentic happiness. Not only will you feel elevated by helping others and doing things for others, but they will feeling uplifted as well. There is an encoded nature of interconnectedness and community that we feel as humans. In such a highly disconnected world as we find ourselves in today, demonstrating some connection goes a long way to heal the trauma of losing that connection.

You can also look at performing virtuous and selfless acts as being karmicly beneficial, although that should be a secondary side effect and not the primary intention for doing selfless and virtuous deeds for others. It should feel good to do something for someone else, especially if you are in a capacity to help someone in some way…and you always are.

People become lost in a never-ending pursuit of happiness, when happiness is a path, not a destination. The kind of happiness that is sustained is the kind where it is coming from a liberated state that is guided by the heart. When you combine these two, you are going to find yourself happier more frequently and in a more sustained and stable way. Sure, you may sometimes experience “negative” emotions sometimes, but your baseline will be slanted more towards a subtle happiness throughout your waking state of awareness.

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About the author:

Paul Lenda is a conscious evolution guide, founder & director of SHIFT, author, writer, speaker, meditation teacher, life coach, and ambassador for the New Paradigm wishing to provide an integral role in personal transformation and the collective social transformation of humanity. Paul offers private one-on-one holistic life counseling & conscious evolution sessions, via Skype or phone. Paul takes into account all aspects of the hyperdimensional matrix when providing guidance, counseling, and coaching.

You can connect with Paul via:


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