Unhappiness

If you're looking to be perpetually happy, you're looking in a funhouse mirror. Find out the benefits of acknowledging your unhappiness in this mini podcast from John Morgan.

Grasshopper Notes are the writings from America's Best Known Hypnotherapist John Morgan. His podcasts contain his most responded to essays and blog posts from the past two decades. 

Find the written versions of these podcasts on John's podcasting site: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1628038

"The Grasshopper" is the part of you that whispers pearls of wisdom that  seem to pop into your mind from out of the blue. John's essays and blog posts are his interpretations of these "Nips of Nectar." Others have labeled his writings as timeless wisdom. 

Most of the John's writings revolve around self improvement and self help. They address topics like:

• Mindfulness
• Peace of mind
• Creativity
• How to stay in the present moment
• Spirituality
• Behavior improvement

And stories that transform you to a wider sense of awareness that presents more options. And isn't that what we all want, more options? 

John uploads these podcasts on a regular basis. So check back often to hear these podcasts heard around the world. Who wants to be the next person to change? 

Make sure to order a copy of John's new book: WISDOM OF THE GRASSHOPPER – 21 Days to Creativity. These mini-meditations take you inside where all your creative resources live. And you'll come out not only refreshed but recommitted to creating your future. 

It's only $16.95 and available at BLURB.COM at the link below. https://www.blurb.com/b/10239673-wisd...

Also, download John's FREE book INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change. It's available at John's website  https://GrasshopperNotes.com

Transcript

Unhappiness 

Here's one of life's verifiable lessons: If you wage a war against unhappiness, you'll lose every battle.

The problem starts when we make a declaration of war. We'd be healthier and more productive if we learned to peacefully co-exist with unhappiness instead, because It’s like dog poop; it’s everywhere and it will always be around.

Reminds me of a story . . . When I was in my 40s, I took training in the martial art of Aikido. After being instructed in the basic movements like holds and falls, the most counter-intuitive thing I had to learn was to step into an attack. Every natural instinct seems to want us to move back and away from our attacker. The objective of Aikido is to move in smaller circles than your attacker. When you enter their larger circle with a smaller one, you control where the action flows. It’s a simple principle to understand but harder to put into action due to our conditioning.

Our conditioning is to fight with unhappiness. And we have plenty of help. Our entire advertising culture preys upon our conditioning that there's something wrong with being unhappy and offers us a quick fix. The medical and psychological communities follow suit with prescriptions and remedies to chase away the blues.

Unhappy doesn't feel good and who in their right mind wants it to hang around?

We'd be better served as human beings to let unhappiness have a time share unit within us. When it visits, and it will, treat it with respect and spend some time with it. It's a powerful emotion that can be a driving force to lead us to what’s next. But you have to let it take a seat and sit with it in order to benefit by the energy it brings.

If you fight it, you are negating its energy field and you'll never get the upside from the downside. That’s because you are taking sides and making unhappiness be your enemy. Unhappiness is relentless and will keep battering the castle door until it gets in.

Fighting with unhappiness is more destructive and painful than letting it in. You make unhappiness an enemy by resisting it. “Make Unhappiness your Friend” is a book title that probably wouldn’t sell and a practice that wouldn’t catch on, but making unhappiness an acquaintance delivers benefits.

When you accept the unhappiness within you, you give it permission to take up space in your body where it'll eventually tire itself out and take its leave. If you keep resisting it in your mind, it'll tire you out with countless weary battles.

There is something on the other side of unhappiness but you won't get there unless you allow it to naturally move through you. Just an  acknowledgement of its existence is helpful. Simply saying, "I have unhappiness within me" is often enough to light the way toward its exit.

If you're unhappy all the time, please seek counseling. But if you're the kind that believes you need to be happy all the time, you need to spend some time with your unhappiness.

Like the martial art of Aikido, acknowledging unhappiness is counter-intuitive and highly effective. It takes practice and the rewards of peace you'll receive outweigh the spoils of war.

All the best,

John