Being Blissful
Joseph Campbell, the late scholar of ancient and modern myths, coined a phrase when he titled one of his books Follow Your Bliss. That’s wonderful advice. When you follow your bliss, you enter a captivating energy zone where everything you try works effortlessly. That’s because the Law of Attraction says that you get more of what you focus on. When you focus on what feels blissful, more of the same is sure to come.
It’s easy to follow Campbell’s counsel when you’re alone. If you lived in a vacuum and no one else had expectations of you, doing as you please would be a snap.
Following your bliss in the face of other peoples’ demands takes a great deal of discipline and self-love. Sometimes it may make those around you feel threatened. They want you to do what will make them happy. If it makes you happy, too, that’s great—but mostly they want you to derive happiness from satisfying their expectations.
Golda Meir is a famous example of someone who defied others and followed her bliss to greatness, going on to found the state of Israel and later leading it as prime minister.
Ukrainian-born Golda was raised in Milwaukee, where she graduated as valedictorian of her grammar school. An enthusiastic student, she entered a local high school, intending to become a teacher. Her mother had other ideas, however, and when she asked her daughter to leave school to work and marry, 14-year-old Golda left instead for Denver. There she lived with a sister, continued high school and developed her passion to create a homeland for the Jewish people.
One can only imagine the pressure that her immigrant mother applied to young Golda to conform and follow a traditional path to womanhood. Many of you with children of your own may feel uncomfortable with this story. And yet, what a great leader the world would have missed if this teenager had acquiesced in her mother’s ideal of happiness.
How do you follow your bliss? Constantly ask yourself, “What can I do that would feel really good?”
I know you may fear that you’ll end up eating a lot of ice cream and neglecting your responsibilities. I promise that won’t happen. In fact, you’ll soon find that overindulging in ice cream doesn’t feel particularly good, whereas completing an important task does. You’ll become skilled at identifying what will add to your bliss. You may also face criticism for being “selfish.” Ironically, those who make this accusation do so out of their own selfish desire for you to do what they want.
Having enough self-love to follow your bliss despite what others may think always results in good things for you. Some may tell you that you’re making them unhappy, but their well-being is their responsibility, not yours. My teacher Esther Hicks has often said, “You cannot stand on your head in enough different ways to make everyone happy.” How true that is. So focus on the one person you can make happy—you!
Follow your bliss and you will discover that doors will open to you that once seemed forever locked.
Focusing on what you want and allowing others to take care of their own expectations aligns you with the natural order of life. When you achieve this harmony—when you relax into it—life becomes much easier and more fulfilling.
