180

You are allowed to be happy ALL the time.

Many of you who read the opening sentence scoffed, most consciously and many more unconsciously.  You may have thought, "Yes, but..."  But, what?  But, you're not always happy?  True, but you are allowed to be happy all the time.  You can be.  You may be.  It is a possibility, and it comes without any caveats.  "Yes, but..."  But, what this time?  But if you're happy now, there's bound to be unhappiness later?

Why?

Remind yourself, "I am allowed to be happy ALL the time."  There is infinite happiness allowed to you.  It doesn't need to be balanced by unhappiness.  A happy time is not waiting for an unhappy time.  A happy time doesn't mean you'll need to "pay" for it later.  You can just be happy.

If you're finding this idea difficult, not to worry--I found it difficult, too.  I sometimes still find it difficult, but I keep reminding myself that I may freely and truly be happy and not worry that it will come to an end.  Repeat it to yourself, and soon you will believe, and you will be freer than you have felt in a long time, or maybe ever!  Be happy.  No one is unhappy because you are happy.  As a matter of fact, your happiness will make even more people happy.

This book will take you through exercises to find your happiness, keep your happiness and spread happiness.  This book will also remind you over and over:

Yes.  You are allowed to be happy.  All.  The.  Time.

179

Life is repetition.  Breathing.  Eating.  Sleeping.  Wake, eat, work, eat, work, eat, sleep.  Again!  The scenery is the same.  The view from your face is the same.  Life feels the same under your fingertips.  Under your feet.  In your bones.  The sun comes up, clouds, moon, dark, stars.  All are variations of the same.  Same.  Same.  Soon you can hear the ticking of time, repeating each second, marking the forward progression.  Next.  Next.  Next.  Same.  Same.  Same.

Many people believe that wisdom is knowing how others will react, but it is, rather, recognizing the sameness in yourself.  I will say this in this situation.  I will feel this when I do that.  I can predict how my body and brain will respond.

There is another level of this wisdom that hardly anyone can achieve, and that is being able to change the sameness.

178

Colors drained from the world before her eyes.  The sky paled, the trees greyed, the ground became a lifeless desert.  People were flat images sliding by a desiccated landscape.  Sound became a muted, muddy hum.  Not even sharp noises could penetrate--only dull thumps.

177

People rarely go crazy all at once, and if they do "snap", it's usually temporary.  When an acquaintance seems as if they've suddenly gone insane, the suddenness is usually an illusion based on time.  It was so with Gina.

To Helene, it seemed as if Gina had suddenly lost her mind, but, in reality, it had just been a long time since Helene had seen her cousin.  Helene liked to joke that their family didn't have reunions; they had wakes.  It was only after one of the family died that anyone got together, and that was the case this year, too.  Great Uncle Fritz had finally died and Helene coordinated her visit to when her parents would be there.  As it turned out, Gina was there, too.

Gina had always been Helene favorite cousin. 

176

Staying positive in the face of disappointment was not in Barley's nature.  Disappointment invariably rocked him and caused a dark cloud to descend on even the most positive aspects of his life.  Truth be told, there were not many positive aspects, and those few did not stray far into positive territory, so when the latest disappointment assaulted him, even Barley's full ice cube tray could not give him a lift.

175

She dreamed of water again.  Whenever Gala dreamed of water, it was either wonderful or a disaster.  She knew the disastrous water dreams were the result of a face full of pillow and her inevitable drowning caused her to gasp herself awake and roll over.  The wonderful water dreams were few and far between, but she remembered them all.  These were the kinds of dreams she pondered, trying to find a connection to her waking life, and wondering what they signaled.  Some recurring dreams she had figured out, like the elevator that took crazy zigs and zags, never going to the floor she selected, but shooting about without warning.  Elevator dreams meant "change".  The future was a question mark and worrying her in daytime life, so her elevator dreams proved it was out of her control.  The water dreams, though.  They were another story.

In her most recent dream, Gala was with British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, known to her mostly for his portrayal of a modern Sherlock Holmes.  She smiled when thinking about that because most females either loved him or were left scratching their heads over why most females loved him.  Gala thought he was interesting-looking, which is why he showed up in her dream as an extension of herself.  In her analysis, she hoped her "interesting" looks made her attractive, so Benedict Cumberbatch showed up.  She had a rather large nose, and a long face, and small eyes and a long body and loose joints.  The description of herself in her own head annoyed her with its negativity, but she let it lie because in the scope of the dream she knew he wasn't the most important part.  The most important part was the feeling.