Deserving Happiness

I just read the new A-ha's posted in my Hello Soul, Hello Business class and was especially touched by a class member's post about simply feeling the freedom to be happy (and to give that joy to her customers as well.) It's funny how such a small thing can have such a huge impact on your life.


I will NEVER forget being on the phone with my cousin 15 years ago, so miserable in my marriage, and he said "You deserve to be happy." Profound A-ha moment. No one had EVER said that to me before! My life's mission up to that point, as I understood it, was to make others happy. It had never occurred to me that I DESERVED to be happy.....simply because I'm a human being, I deserve that. He was a cowboy of few words, but what he did say mattered and I trusted him, and so I believed him. THIS was a major turning point in my life. And I still hear his voice telling me I deserve to be happy as a kind of mantra for my life now.



I now believe (!) it's possible to have a business that makes me happy. I was telling my kids yesterday how I used to be a sewing whore---I'd do anything with a sewing machine for money (and not much money, at that). Through my experiences the past 3-4 years my attitude change has been coming, and led me to take this online course. By infusing my soul into my business, whatever it is, can only make me happy. My business can be about me, for me, an extension of myself and my happiness to share with others. Imagine that!

I was happy to the point of physical exhaustion (!) after I spoke to the group of teachers about inclusion, compassion, and creating opportunities. (The text of my talk is in my previous post.) I really am happy in my personal life now, and blessed. I have been missing that piece of feeling really happy and successful as a person outside my home and family. And, like my classmate, I now believe I have something to offer others and deserve to derive happiness from that, too!