Tools & Tips
The Greatest Obstacle to Happiness & How to Overcome It

From Advanced Formula For Total Success
By Dr. Robert Anthony

Think of your present moment as your Point of Power, because it is the only point where you can exercise your full power. For most of us the present moment exists only as mental concept. If there is such a place where all the creative forces of the universe come together, how do we know it is the present moment? What evidence is there that this is true? Consider this; all your hopes for the future and even your memories of the past can happen only in the present moment. The present moment is that one point where everything comes together.

All unhappiness is caused by denial of the present. We think problems are caused by our situations in life, but attachment to the past and future and denial of the now is the real problem. Ultimately then, there is only one problem in life - not living in the now.

You cannot be unhappy and fully present now. It is impossible to have a problem when your attention is in the now. When you live in the now, a situation is either dealt with or accepted now. A problem means you are dwelling on a situation mentally without having a true intention or possibility of taking action now.

ANSWERS COME IN THE NOW
Perhaps you are seeking answers to your questions or problems. Notice that sometimes you receive your answer, but most of the time you don't. Why? Because you are not in the present moment when the answer arrives! Anytime your mind is out of the present moment you cannot receive the answer you need from Higher Intelligence.

The answer can come in many ways and at any time, but it will always come in the present moment. If we spend most of our time regretting and living in the past or worrying about the future we place ourselves out of the present moment where all creativity and answers take place.

VIBRATIONAL ENERGY OF THE NOW
Understand that in every moment you are sending out a vibrational energy through your thoughts. This vibrational energy is magnetizing and attracting everything to you. If you send out a vibrational energy that you don't have what you want, you will end up with more of the same - having what you don't want.

If this is true, (and it is) then what could be more advantageous than using this moment to send out a vibrational energy or thought that is in alignment with what you want in your life? The answer is nothing is more important!

I am talking about the power of FOCUS. Ask yourself, "Am I activating what I want in this moment or am I focusing on something that doesn't allow me to have what I want?"

Energy is tied into DESIRE. Anything that feels opposite to that energy or desire creates a situation that prevents us from having what we desire.

WATCHING THE THINKER
If you find it difficult to live in the NOW, try this: Stand back and just observe the habitual tendency of your mind wanting to escape the now. You will observe that the future is usually better or worse than the present. If the imagined future is better, it gives you hope, pleasure and anticipation. If it is worse, it creates anxiety. Both are illusions.

Don't judge or analyze what you observe. Watch the thought - feel the emotion, observe the reaction - become the silent watcher. This will help you to focus on the moment, because the moment you realize you are not present, you ARE present.

FREEDOM FROM UNHAPPINESS
Problems of the mind cannot be solved with the mind. Studying the mind might make you a good psychologist, but doing so won't take you beyond the mind just as studying madness isn't enough to create madness.

When you create problems you create pain. All it takes is a single choice - a simple decision that no matter what happens you will not longer create pain by trying to live in the future or the past.

Are you worried? Do you have many “what if” thoughts? Ask yourself what “problem” you have right now, not tomorrow, not five minutes from now. What's wrong with this moment?

Is your goal is taking up so much time and attention that you reduce the present moment as a means to an end?

Are you waiting to start living? If you develop such a mind-pattern no matter what you achieve or get the present will never be good enough.

The future will always seem better. This is a recipe for permanent dissatisfaction and non-fulfillment - don't you agree?

Are you a habitual “waiter”? How much of your life do you spend waiting for the next holiday, better job, your child to grow up, success, make money, be important, and become enlightened?

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT
We discussed throughout this book the idea of choosing what we desire and following our dreams. What stops many people from following their joy is that they are afraid that their way of doing something it will not be good enough or accepted. They compare what comes from them naturally with what is considered the norm. That whole process of conformity starts in school. They ask you to write a poem and then it is compared to another poem and if it is in the same form then it gets an “A”. If it is different and has a form of its own then it gets a “D.” When I was in first grade the teacher asked us to draw a picture of a cat. When I was finished my picture was considered so poor that I was told I have no talent as far as art is concerned. I never drew or participated in any art form after that.

Perhaps you decided that you couldn't paint because you are comparing your form to another form. But the truth is you could no more paint like Van Gogh then Van Gogh could paint like you. The difference is that Van Gogh believed in himself and in his style of painting. That's the magic.

No one can do what you do exactly the way you do it. This includes business, the arts or any area of life. A person's self expression cannot be judged other then by a total fool. What you do, whatever makes you feel alive and joyful, is your unique expression. And it is probably the only thing that will bring you true joy and excitement.

THE UNHAPPY MAJORITY
Unfortunately, for many of us, we spend much of our days following and doing what we have come to believe we need to do, rather than what truly excites us and what would, for that very reason, end up bringing us the joy we seek.

Can we truly expect to experience enormous joy and happiness in our lives if the first concern we have in the morning upon wakening is to be on time to a job that does not bring us joy and excitement? If seventy percent of our days are filled with activities that do not bring us joy, excitement and love, then the remaining thirty- percent cannot compensate for that. All the seminars, books, meditation, and affirmations are not going to help.

Yet the more time we spend doing things that do not truly bring us joy and excitement, the more money we spend on other things trying to compensate for our growing unhappiness, and this ends up bringing us more debt. So the end result is that we are tied even more into working at what we dislike. It is a self-defeating circle.

Have you ever been in a room with many unhappy people? How did it feel in there? Now imagine what billions of unhappy people are doing to the world. Unfortunately we have become so accustomed to this energy that we don't even notice it anymore. It's as thick as molasses everywhere with the exception of a few pockets of joy now and then.

What we fail to understand is when we have billions of people doing things that they do not want to do, it creates unhappiness, That unhappiness creates a collective energy that goes into the environment and causes more damage to the environment than everything else combined. It is like anger causing an ulcer. The anger created the ulcer and people's sadness creates the negative result in the environment.

The greatest obstacle to happiness is not living in the present moment and not following your joy. The solution is to do just the opposite. If you find yourself focusing on the past or the future, remind yourself that the present moment is all there is, and then surrender to what is and see how life suddenly starts working for you.

If you put the same amount of effort into finding what gives you joy as you put into going to work at a job you dislike, you will end up with results that will make you think, “Why did I wait so long to do this?”

Copyright 2003 by Dr. Robert Anthony. Reprinted with permission from The Advanced Formula For Total Success.