A Course in Miracles

Dean1973, There is nothing inherently wrong with all those book you have, but one of the things that is obvious (from your own words) is that you are not "there" yet. All of those books and many of the teachings, courses, seminars, etc. that are available out in the world fall into a category that some people, including myself, refer to as "get well."

There is nothing wrong with "get well," but it does start with the assumption that you and others are not already well. More than that, many of the purveyors of "get well" also want you to know that they have the information or whatever that you are looking for. Some of these people are very good at what they do, and if their body of information sounds familiar, it's because it is usually based on time-honored wisdom that comes from Buddha, Jesus and others.

The idea that you are already well, a complete and whole person, is a higher level game and, ultimately, much more fulfilling than living with the viewpoint that you constantly need to be fixed. Whether we are happy or not is about the choices we make in life, and those choices are available to all of us. As andrew says, "We choose to be happy. We choose to be grateful. We choose to be joyful." I totally agree with all of those statements.

It requires expenditures of energy to live a happy life...at least most of the time. Sometimes if feels as if happiness just sort of happens to us, and, when it does, savour those experiences! It also requires expenditures of energy to be miserable and depressed, and most of us find that the energies we spend being happy pay much greater rewards than being caught up in negativities.

If you would like to discuss this more, I am delighted to do that! Best wishes!