“If you want to be happy,” said Leo Tolstoy, “BE.” I used to hear people say this and I would think, “Be what?”

I know now, that’s the wrong question. Why? Because it implies there is something you must DO in order to BE. There is nothing, however, you could ever do in order to be.

So, happiness…your happiness…begins the moment you stop looking for it…seeking it…trying to obtain it…become it…discover the “right” steps toward it. Happiness is instead your natural state of being. It IS who you are, not what you become or attain or achieve.

I have lived much of my life so confused or, perhaps a better word, is unaware of how to be happy. When I finally gave up seeking for that which I am already, I made a wonderful discovery. Happiness.

You are that which you seek. So, today, give up looking outside yourself for that which is springing up within you already – the awareness that the happiness you seek is the person you are–already. Every Dogwood, Redbud, tulip, and leaf I see budding with new life this spring…this day…I will be reminded of the happiness that is springing up within me this season…this day…this moment.

Now, my friend, if you DO this today, what do you suppose you’ll BE?