Happiness is work

"People universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you would leak away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."

This is from the book 'eat, pray, love' which I adore so much (by elizabeth gilbert). Ever since I read this I have been breathing it in, putting it into action. At the time, when I was on vacation, I was in the midst of making this transition from a very difficult time into exploring my new healthier self....but not really feeling like i had the skills to retain happiness, to be resiliant. And then this...everytime I have an emotional drop since I read this quote I remember that 'happiness is the consequence of personal effort' so i breathe deeper, sort through what can change my mood. That is not to say I don't plan to honour my grumpy messy moments...but i am so grateful to be stepping away from every little dissapointment feeling like a dramatic setback. i allow that to happen and I feel like this whole year of just being where i was, working through my loneliness, sorting out my fear and paranoia (especially from being robbed) and letting those parts of me that were just empty to be filled, slowly......but now its time to go day by day, maintaining all this healing....