Do you feel guilty when things are going well in your life? I hear from clients and friends that they feel uncomfortable sharing their happiness with others, especially since there is so much sadness and unhappiness in the world. If you are happy, you may feel like you are showing off or are somehow undeserving of it.
If you feel guilty for being or sharing your happiness, recognize that this is normal for many of us, especially if you have gone through extremely hard times (and who hasn’t?). It can feel odd and uncomfortable to experience more joy and actually maintain it. It’s foreign for most, which can lead to guilt and worry.
This is the ego trying to tell us we don’t deserve it, and if people get jealous, it’s other people’s fear that is reflected when we share our joy.
I can relate 100 percent. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling happier and more at peace than I ever have. I’ve been wondering “how long it is going to last?” and thinking, “I don’t want people to be jealous or think I am showing off.” But then my loving truth voice steps in and reminds me that I have done tremendous work on myself and this is the reward of true healing and growth. And I can’t control other people’s perceptions of me or their own worries, but I do owe it to myself to be happy and live my dreams daily.
Bottom line is you deserve so much happiness, and allowing yourself to feel it is the ultimate form of self-love and enlightenment. When you feel happy and joyful, hug yourself and say, “Welcome to the goodness—all of my hard word has paid off.”
The best thing to do is be in gratitude and soak up the goodness, and these tips can help:
1. Your Unhappiness Helps NO ONE
No one is being served by your own misery. If you worry about what others might think when you share your joy, you are focusing too much on the outside world. The fix is to stop looking outside of yourself and return to the happiness within. A lot of feeling guilty for being happy is tied to a lack of self-worth. Many of us feel unworthy of our desires—after all, let’s face it, most of us with big hearts have spent most of our lives being there for everyone else, and in that pursuit of bringing happiness to others we forgot about our own desires. Now that you are focusing on you, your ego will try to step in and say you aren’t worth it or you are being selfish. This is a common trick from the fear-based mind. Just be aware and work through it by believing in your worth. You can repeat the mantra, “My unhappiness helps no one.”
Because, baby, you matter and happiness is for you.
2. Embrace Your Empathy
The truth is, you have a huge heart and you care about other people. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t feel uneasy about being happy. What you want to do is celebrate life by using your empathy and focusing it on you. Show up for yourself by taking the steps to make yourself happy. As you become happier, you will naturally attract people who care about your well-being and want nothing more than for you to be happy, too.
Use your big heart to support and care for yourself, by saying the mantra “Yes, I matter and it is natural for my to be in joy.”
3. The World NEEDS Your Joy
The more joyful you are, the more you can actually help the world. We don’t need more suffering. The world does not need more pain. By you saying yes to happiness and living with joy, you are actually healing and helping the world in a magnificent way. When you step up and rise to live the calling of your heart, you raise the vibration of the world.
Awesome opportunity: Try it out: what are you joyful for? Share your happiness in the comments below.
