When I recall moments in my life when I’d discovered bliss and times of wellness, I remember my grandparents’ smile and the joy I felt during one of our many visits together, or I think of celebrating a family member’s birthday, or I am reminded of the beaming pride on the face of someone who has completed their first Pilates class.
Bliss is a state of being that reflects how our highest inner selves are interacting with a particular experience. These moments of bliss are often preceded by specific experiences. Here are some signs that you’re on the brink of discovering your bliss.
1. You experience opposition.
We all have moments in life where the canvas of our perception reveals a reoccurring theme of rejection, lack, or opposition. But in every circumstance, there is a well of joy and fulfillment that follows opposition. The fullness of life is composed of opposing stages – seed and harvest, night and day, famine and feast. Just as a hard winter is called to gentle spring, the harsh conditions of life are called to change also. If it weren’t for the disappointments, we wouldn’t know what healthy choices look like. What seemed like opposition before, becomes a guiding light that propels us further into a destiny that is uniquely designed for you!
2. You see choices, not options.
Options tend to be nestled between the desire for more and the fear of having less. Options can disguise themselves as choices. But, options don’t unleash the possibilities or the passion that every human being needs to connect with our fullest potential. It is when we release fear that we begin to see choices – those that exist in the valley, around the valley, up the mountain, and down its other side that – that we truly position ourselves to experience our bliss, no matter where we find ourselves planted.
3. You embrace solitude.
Either by our own conviction or by the irony of life’s imposition, we all, at some point, find ourselves set a part from the crowd. The good news is that solitude removes distractions and reminds us to trust that we are exactly where we need to be in our own unique journey. In my solitude, I love spending time in deep prayer and meditation. It’s time that I set aside to be with myself and with my Creator. It’s where I find peace in the fact that I’m the best person in this world to be me.
4. You have faith when it doesn’t make sense.
Faith makes room for God to move mountains and invert valleys. In faith, we realize our potential in times of adversity, when we are called to do more with less. Living with faith is the preamble to a new constitution for living a higher purpose that serves the world. Having faith is being true to the values and greater vision that the heart sees, even when our outer experience doesn’t prove that we should. Faith is moving to a place with no career promises or friends, but believing that it’s where you were called to be. I did this –- three times -– and the experience revealed vocations, friendships, and love that changed my life forever!
5. You decide to let go of the past.
The past is the eternal bench press of life. It requires energy to uphold, and it leaves you resigned to the bench under which the heaviness sits. By its nature, the past is not a state of being; it is a tense, a point in time that is opposite of the present. The two cannot coexist in the same moment. Letting go of the past can be as daunting as forgiving the actions of an ex-partner or as annoying as forgiving your puppy for eating the freshly made sandwich that you carelessly left at the edge of the table. Forgiveness of the past allows the empty spaces of our heart to be filled by a joyful present.
Bliss is different for each of us. Stale perceptions of what bliss should look like keeps us from learning to accept what is. Acceptance is the cocoon of life, where we can experience God in the most intimate and transformational ways. Bliss, therefore, is not a destination. It is the journey that leads us to the moment that we accept and make peace with our own path, a moment of glory without form or judgment. This is your bliss.
