Getting In Touch With Your Inner Feelings

Every disease or ailment, whether it be cancer, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure or something else, has a series of warning signs. In ever case, when we experience an abnormality, we tend to move quickly to do something to get back to normal. Our physical feelings tell us when we're well, and they also tell us when we're not well. If we want to live a long and healthy life we had better pay attention to our physical feelings.

In the same way, nature also gives us a way to tell what's right for us and what's wrong for us in life. Just as nature gives us physical pain to tell us when something is wrong in the physical realm, nature also gives us emotional pain to guide us toward doing or not doing things in the emotional or mental realm. The key to dramatically enhancing the quality of your life is simply to follow the guidance you are given. You should always listen to your mind, your body, and your emotions.

Just as our natural physical state is health and vitality, our natural emotional state is peace and happiness. Whenever you experience a deviation from peace and happiness, it's an indication that something is wrong or out of balance in your life. Something is wrong with what you're thinking, doing, or saying. Feelings of ease or uneasiness, happiness or unhappiness, can be triggered by a myriad of factors. But it is your feeling of inner happiness that is the best indicator you could ever have to tell you what you should be doing more of and what you should be doing less of.

Unhappiness is to your life, what pain is to your body. It's sent as message to tell you that what you're doing is wrong for you. Unfortunately many people don't listen to their inner feelings and are reluctant to use their own happiness as the standard by which to judge the events in their lives.

Human beings are naturally happiness driven. Everything we do in life is oriented toward maintaining and increasing our level of happiness. We are built so that it's impossible for us to feel any other way, without making ourselves mentally and emotionally ill. The fact is, you can't give away to anyone else what you don't have yourself. So, you can't make someone else happy if your are not happy yourself.

The very best way to assure the happiness of others is to be happy yourself and then in turn, share your happiness with them. For example, when a parent has a high level of self-esteem and happiness, he or she then expresses it and shares it with his or her children. When a parent does this, they are giving the greatest gift a parent can give.

When you are unhappy it depresses and discourages the people around you. If you want to make others happy, start by living the kind of life and doing the kind of things that make you happy.

One of the most important things that we ever do in life is to serve other people in some way. It is through service to others that we achieve a sense of meaning and purpose in life. But, the key is to serve with joy and happiness. I believe we are here to serve others, but we're also here to achieve our own joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment as a result. When we feel that we are making a contribution to the world we're living in and that we're putting in more than we're taking out, it raises our level of self-esteem.

Happiness is composed of a many elements. They can be physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Each person requires their own particular combination of these elements to feel the very best about themselves. It is important to understand that these elements are constantly changing. And only you can tell what it takes to make you happy. That is why, the only way to judge whether a job, a relationship, an investment, or any decision, is right for you is to get in touch with your inner feelings and listen to your heart.

You're true to yourself only when you follow your inner light, when you listen to what Ralph Waldo Emerson called the "still small voice within." You're being the very best person you can be only when you have the courage and the fortitude to allow your definition of happiness, whatever it may be, to be the guiding light of every part of your life. Whenever you feel stressed, anxious, worried, or uneasy about any part of your life, it's nature's way of telling you that something is wrong.

Very often, you'll suffer from what is often called "divine discontent." You'll feel fidgety and uneasy for a reason or reasons that are unclear to you. You'll be dissatisfied with the status quo. Sometimes, you'll be angry or irritable. Very often, you'll get upset with things that have nothing to do with the real issue. You'll have a deep inner sense that something isn't as it should be, and you'll often feel like a fish on a hook, wriggling and squirming emotionally to get free.

And that is a good thing. Divine discontent always comes from a positive change in life. If you were perfectly satisfied, you would never take any action to improve or change your circumstances. Only when you're dissatisfied for some reason do you have the inner motivation to engage in the other behaviors that lead you happiness and fulfillment in life.

When something is making you unhappy, for any reason, its natural tendency is to get worse rather than better. So avoid the temptation to engage in denial or pretend that nothing is wrong. Never simply wish, hope, or pray, that whatever it is that's bothering you will go away on its own. The fact is that it probably will get worse before it gets better and ultimately it will require you to face the situation head on, and do something about it.

Many people work very hard and experience considerable frustration trying to do a particular job. However, in terms of their own happiness, the right answer might be to do something else, or to do what they're doing in a different place, or do it with different people.

One of the highest and most important goals you can ever set for yourself is the goal of having peace of mind. Once you set this goal and work towards achieving it, you'll be holding yourself to the standard of inner peace, and you'll find that every decision you make will turn out to be the best decision. You'll have more energy, enthusiasm, and become more creative. You'll become a kinder, gentler, and a more loving person. When you set peace of mind as your standard, you'll tap into a source of wisdom that will guide you without fail toward doing and saying the right things in every circumstance.

The most important things you can do to get in touch with your inner feelings is to practice quiet meditation on a daily basis. You should set aside 30 to 60 minutes each day for meditation. When you begin to practice meditation on a daily basis, you'll begin to experience a flow of energy coming into your mind and body. You'll have a tremendous sense of well-being, and a stream of ideas will flow through your mind. And, most importantly, you'll get the answer to the most important situation facing you every single time you meditate.

You must learn to trust yourself. Take the time to listen to your emotions and your inner feelings as to what makes you happy or unhappy. When your inner feelings tell you something is right for you, then do it. If they tell you something is wrong for you, then don't do it. You must never compromise on what your inner voice tells you to do. You will greatly enhance harmony, peace, and happiness in every area of your life by developing the habit of listening to yourself and acting on the guidance you receive.

Set peace of mind as your highest goal. Associate only with those people and work in only those situations that make you happy and contribute to your sense of inner peace and well-being. Always please yourself in all things. Happiness is the highest human good, and your happiness is your highest good as well. When you listen to yourself and act on what you hear inside, you will have a life filled with success, happiness, and fulfillment.

Copyright©2005 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. A former ad agency executive and marketing consultant, Joe's work in personal development focuses on helping his clients identify hidden marketable assets that create windfall opportunities and profits, as well as sound personal happiness and peace.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

---

Ways to Bring Play into Your Life

1. roll around in the grass, and don't brush the... Read More

Chasing The Whats Next

Are you an adrenaline junkie who is looking for balance?... Read More

Letting Go of Anger and Awaken to Lifes Grand Aventures

Anger can make us feel good and enlivened for a... Read More

True Happiness

Most people look outside of themselves as the cause of... Read More

Keeping You Confident!

We can all be confident when we are sure of... Read More

Simple Pleasures: Ingredients to Feed Your Spirit.

"When we do something we love, again and again, our... Read More

How To Be Happy

Happiness is a state of mind, so your state of... Read More

Reframing with NLP For Enhanced Happiness

I used to work for the Independent National Newspaper in... Read More

Does Money Buy Happiness?

According to researchers like Martin Seligman, Daniel Kahneman and Ed... Read More

Happiness Is In Our Own Hands

Other people can bring tremendous happiness to our lives but... Read More

7 Surprising Keys to Happiness

Have you ever had one of those days where you... Read More

Achievement and Happiness the 80/20 Way

If there was ever a principle that was responsible for... Read More

How to Stop Attracting Negative People to Your Life

Placing your attention, energy and focus on the negative aspects... Read More

Happy Buttons

What makes you happy? What are the simple pleasures that... Read More

Have Fun, Make Friends, Be Happy

I always marvel at the way people shine when they... Read More

Can Existential Therapy Give You a Sense of Wellbeing?

My journey to becoming a therapist began with a desire... Read More

Hanging Out

Right off the top: What is the difference between dating... Read More

10 Easy Ways You Can Feel Happier, Be Healthier and Live Longer Starting NOW!

Let's just say? first thing when you popped out of... Read More

You Can?t See Your Own Eyes

My friend called me this morning from her favorite coffee... Read More

Lifes Like that

It is now 5 years since I passed out of... Read More

4 Steps to Use Fears as Friends: Don?t be a Thunder Dog!

Imagine humungous, bulbous, billowing alto-cumulus clouds building higher and higher... Read More

Follow Your Bliss

Gail was a quiet, shy, young lady. She has been... Read More

Can You Really Let Go Of Your Huge Internal Struggle?

When I was in graduate school for psychology, we had... Read More

Quick Steps On Being Happier

Want to be happier?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and... Read More

A Bad Hairdresser Day

"Hey everybody!" Hairdresser Lady called out. "It's The Happy Guy.""Don't... Read More

Smile - A Look at False Happiness

Smile... You'll make your brain wonder what your face is... Read More

SOLD! Again! Contrast Can Work FOR You

Have you ever had an experience where everything you wanted... Read More

Wisdom

What is wisdom? But first, what are the conditions that... Read More

10 Ideas to Jump Start Your Self-Confidence

To begin feeling that first spark of self-confidence within you,... Read More

Create a Balanced Lifestyle and Begin Living a Happier, Healthier and Enriched Life

Are you living a balanced life?Many people are not. Their... Read More

How Good Are You?

The demands of being a good person can sometimes mean... Read More

Inner Peace

Are you content and at inner peace?Or are you insecure... Read More

How To Make Your Own Happiness

Happiness comes to a person when it is caused by... Read More