Behind storm clouds

Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances. Benjamin Franklin

Snow. The world outside my window became a winter wonderland yesterday. White. Fluffy. Slippery snow covers the ground. It is piled on tree branches and car hoods. There is a world of wonder to behold. As long as I forget about the cold!

There was a song in the 60s with the words, 'happiness is an elusive butterfly.' I feel happy this morning. Light as snow. Fluffed up. Slipping from moment to moment on a cloud of happy thoughts. Doesn't matter what condition the world is in outside my window, no elusive butterfly (and in these conditions the butterfly would be very elusive!) can flit away with my contentment.

My mood lives in my head. I get to choose what goes on in my head and this morning, I'm choosing to be happy, feel happy, see the world through happy eyes!

Louise Hay wrote in You Can Heal Your Life, "It's only a thought and a thought can be changed."

When I think, 'bad' thoughts, I have the power to change them. Challenge is, sometimes I let go of my power and give into the nature of my thinking. Sometimes I choose to give up on me and give into negativity.

Not today. Today the world is a winter wonderland. A sparkling vista of fresh white snow blanketing the earth.

How I see it is up to me.

I drove my sister and friend BA to the airport yesterday. The roads were slick. Icy. When I got home C.C. asked me how was the drive. I didn't mind it coming home I told him. I had no one else to worry about in the car but me.

Filled with the responsibility of getting people I love to the airport on time, I let go of contentment and slipped into anxiety. There's a lesson there. The conditions were the same, going to the airport and coming home. The difference was in my attitude.

Perhaps it is that I don't always choose happiness and contentment because I let what's going on in the world around me affect the world within me.

Ramana Maharishi said, "Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside."

Sitting in the car yesterday, driving cautiously to the airport, I let go of the happiness of having two very wonderful people in the car with me and gave into the anxiety of driving in winter conditions.

I am a good driver. I didn't speed. I slowed down to accommodate the winter conditions. I gave lots of room between me and the car in front. I did every thing I could to be safe on the roads, and still I was anxious driving to the airport. The anxiety came from within me.

Driving home, I didn't feel the same pressure even though it was dark by the time I left the airport. My girlfriend's flight was an hour earlier than my sister's, so we'd had a chance to visit for an hour before she had to go through security. It was our first chance to get caught up after the busy weekend. A gift of time to share.

I can't change the weather outside. I can't change the road conditions nor the temperature. All I can control is the world inside, here, within me. All I can do is let go of what doesn't work in my life, what doesn't create contentment and peace of mind, so that no matter what I do, where I am or where I'm going, I slide on a blanket of grace and ease.

It's my choice.

Benjamin Franklin once wrote that we should not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. He said we should keep in the sunlight.

Beneath leaden clouds seeping fluffy white snowflakes, it's hard to see the sunlight. But it's always there. Hidden behind pregnant grey clouds it waits, confident the skies will clear.

No matter the world out there, the world in here is sunny. I like it that way!

The question is: Are you at risk of the weather storming in and stealing your sunshiney thoughts away? Are you claiming your power to change your thoughts and alter your mood? Are you willing to create the best day of your life yet, no matter the weather?