How does one find happiness? Is it a place? or is it a state of being? In any event it is attainable by all. Whether we go searching for it or just accept it as it is…we merely choose to be or find happiness. We return now to our Warrior as she ponders these thoughts during her daily meditation…

Happiness is found in eight steps:

1. Willingness
2. Actions
3. Acceptance
4. Gratitude
5. Awareness
6. Cleansing
7. Removal of emotions
8. Unconditional Love

Channeled through the meditations of our Warrior, we take the first step towards happiness.

Note: the eight steps are not to be considered actual steps towards happiness, but more of a natural progression as one enters the path. It also worth noting that an person does not need to follow this path at all, but merely accept Love as their guide.

Willingness to change, is the driving force behind actions and the basis for developing a basic need for something deeply rooted internally, leading towards an active side of infinity. It is the willingness that allows us to throw away our conditioned beliefs, accepting a new belief system…based on Love.

It is during this willingness stage that we begin accepting guidance from a voice that resides in all of us…it is the one that we all fight with throughout our lives, ignoring its call. In this stage we listen to its call and seeking out whatever it wishes. Our instincts may call us to do an act of kindness, that we may otherwise miss. This inner guidance system may also align us with an appropriate book or other source of learning material.

With willingness, we take action. Action towards how we want our life to be. No longer subscribing to beliefs of old, subscribing to new beliefs that only serving our highest needs. Taking action towards this active side of infinity, we instinctively let go of thoughts and behaviors harboring negativity. Our thoughts become embedded in positivity and our thoughts become that of acceptance. This is also the stage where we begin analyzing our friends and immediate members of our inner circles…are they positive? are they whom I want to emanate? Do they serve my highest needs of feeling good? If not…time to clean house in that department as well.

Through acceptance we find peace and happiness wherever we go, with no judgment and no resentment. We accept a mindful approach to life, fixating on being present at every given moment. When we are completely present, we see the world through eyes of gratitude.

In gratitude, we find good in all things. Even the most heinous of people, we find to be loving in some form or another. It is finding the silver lining in every cloud. Begin each new day in gratitude and end it the same. Start the day submersed in gratitude for: the many life lessons, providing service to others, the feet that support us throughout the day, the sympathetic heart, and the ability to enjoy all there is about the Canvas of Life. Beginning the day on a positive note, only leads to a positive day. Think for a moment…where would I be is  “{blank}” didn’t happen to me? Whatever the scenario, fill in the blank, good or bad, everything has led to this very moment in our lives. This moment of self-realization and that everything has happened on purpose up until now, this is our moment of true awareness.

Awareness allows us to witness our words and actions without full understanding and allowing them to be. This is the moment that Thich Nhat Hanh would refer to as being mindful. Being mindful means being present in every given moment. When we are fully in the moment, we are mindful of our thoughts and actions with complete consideration for our seven generations. With awareness, each step is carefully plotted, each word carefully chosen and each moment is like the first time. When we are truly mindful, our days fill with awe-inspiring moments. Having awareness we begin purging more negativity from our lives. It is a lifelong journey and we could spend a lifetime purging our negative attachments. This is the cleansing stage.

To cleanse one must submerge themselves in Love. Whether it be through ritual or intimate setting of a quiet room, the person begins asking for more Love to poured into them, “Lord make me an instrument of your Peace. May Your Love be poured onto me until my cup over flows, allowing me to give it away and may it be replenished, keeping it forever over-flowing all the days of my life. ” When we reach this place of our journey, we shall be filled to the rim with His Love and we will be left to give it all away. In this stage we no longer get emotional over things that people say or do against us. We become invincible to their behavior and detach from negativity.

Checking our emotions at the door is the hardest thing to do, but once we master this task, our lives become so much easier. Don Miguel Ruiz discusses this concept in his Four Agreements. Removing the emotional response mechanism that humans commonly have, we allow are selves to interact in a non-judgmental, collaborative and mindful approach, allowing us to focus on end results with no expected outcomes. If we focus on merely allowing others to shine, we detach from expected outcomes and come to a place of Love. This unconditional Love is for all and is to be given away.

When we meditate on these eight steps we cannot forget the teachings of Christ, as he discussed the “Old Laws” being intertwined by a common thread. That thread is Love. As in the beginning, so shall it be intertwined throughout our lives. Love intertwines throughout these eight steps and if an individual were to only have Love from the beginning, these steps would unfold instantaneously.

Stepping into the Canvas with a mindful attitude. Stepping, leaving varying colors as we kiss Mother Earth with Love. Our trail of Love travels throughout the land, spreading more rainbows of colors and ending in a glorious pot of Love. It is our heartfelt intentions that will lead us to paradise. We do not have to wait until death to get a glimpse, but merely open our hearts.