Page 26 - The Truth Landscape Format 2020 1st Draft 19_01_2020

“Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself”.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882, American Poet, Essayist

The study of happiness suggests it is a mysterious phenomenon. Suggestions like work in a meaningful career, spend time with friends, and take
time to savour the day are put forward as a means to increase happiness. Why do these things show up as activities to do if you want to be happy?
It’s not because they actually make you happy. They cultivate happiness because people express love while doing them. They express love for
their friends and family, they express love for work and activities they find meaningful. When people express love they are happy.

It is easy to overlook our expression of emotion in the creation of our happiness. We tend to think of our emotions as a response to people and things. How
often have you found yourself using words such as “He/She makes me happy.” Even the phrase, “I’m so happy you came to visit me.” can have an implied
mental assumption that our emotions are because of the other person or event.

Where did that emotion of love come from? You created it. Emotions are invisible to your eyes and so you overlook where they are coming from. Yet the
truth is that we create them ourselves. We can witness other people’s emotions, but over 95% of what we feel emotionally is from what we create.

Happiness doesn’t depend on other people or events, we create our happiness in the emotions we generate.

What about all the things that seem to bring us happiness? If we enjoy music, it is not the music that makes us happy. It is the expression of our love for the
music that creates our joy. If we are happy in our job or career, it is not the job that makes us happy. The expression of our love for what we do creates the
experience of happiness. If we are enjoying a beautiful day, it is not the day that is flooding us with emotions. It is our love for the experience of the day
that we are flooded with. The friend that visited us is a prompt for us to create and express love for them. We then experience joy from the love we express
for people; not because of them. It is often easier for us to love some people more than others.

The one underlying act that determines your happiness is the expression of your love coming out of you.

Truly lasting happiness is yours when you develop the self-awareness to choose be aware of the emotion in your mind and change it at will. With
help from the perception cycle you are able to choose the emotion you express in each moment. When you have this level of self-control the obvious
choice is to express love.

We often associate this kind of mind control with spiritual people. But it is actually something that you can achieve without having to move to some
far-off spiritual land, wearing orange habits and clinking hand-bells. When you expressed love for your children, a friend, spouse, or a pet, you have
already exercised the necessary emotional muscles that it takes. All that is required is some practice and some shifting of the perceptions in the mind.

Spiritual traditions have been studying happiness, love, fear, and belief systems in the mind for thousands of years. Their studies have gleaned a great deal Page26
more insight into the unseen world of emotions and belief systems than recent academics.