By Marc and Angel

“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” ― Maya Angelou

I’ll be the first to admit that I used to be emotionally weak in my relationships – not in a silly, desperate way, but in the same way that many of us are. I wanted somebody to make me happy, I blamed others for my sadness, and I sought to fulfill my emotional needs through other people’s constant validation.

This behavior created three distinct emotional difficulties in my life:

• I had lots of relationship problems, because if the other person’s behavior wasn’t satisfying my needs, I’d get upset and resent it.
• I’d often be unhappy, because I was looking for all my happiness outside of myself, expecting others to somehow fill my self-love deficit.

“Happiness is an inside job. Don’t assign anyone else that much power over your life.” ~Mandy Hale

Everyone wants to be happy, but not many people contemplate whether or not they really are.

Some of us feel too privileged to not be happy, while others don’t want to face the possibility that we might not be. Here are nine truths about happiness to help you think a little more deeply about what it really means.

1. It isn’t a feeling; it’s a relationship to life.

To be human means that we experience a range of emotions. If you were to look at a grid and see a line in the shape of a wave it would be an accurate representation of the human experience.

We shouldn’t be operating as an even, straight line. That’s what I’d call a robot or someone numbed out.

What do your poops say about you? This may sound like a joke, but you can actually learn a lot about your health from your daily doo.

Hippocrates says that all disease begins in the gut.

SO we wanna be sure that what’s coming out of the gut looks good.

There are three main things to look for:

1. Frequency
2. Form
3. Color

1. Frequency

It’s best to have at least one complete bowel movement a day. You should feel like your bowels have emptied rather than just partially eliminated.

Some people go 2-3 times a day. This can be because of faster metabolisms, more robust good bacteria, or the quantity of food they eat.

It has been recently scientifically validated that hugging trees is good for you. Research has shown that you don’t even have to touch a tree to get better, you just need to be within its vicinity has a beneficial effect.

In a recently published book, Blinded by Science, the author Matthew Silverstone, proves scientifically that trees do in fact improve many health issues such as concentration levels, reaction times, depression, stress and other various forms of mental illness. He even points to research indicating a tree’s ability to alleviate headaches in humans seeking relief by communing with trees.

The author points to a number of studies that have shown that children show significant psychological and physiological improvement in terms of their health and well being when they interact with plants and trees. Specifically, the research indicates that children function better cognitively and emotionally in green environments and have more creative play in green areas. Also, he quotes a major public health report that investigated the association between green spaces and mental health concluded that “access to nature can significantly contribute to our mental capital and wellbeing”.

“There is a secret about human love that is commonly overlooked: Receiving it is much more scary and threatening than giving it. How many times in your life have you been unable to let in someone’s love or even pushed it away? Much as we proclaim the wish to be truly loved, we are often afraid of that, and so find it difficult to open to love or let it all the way in.” ~ John Welwood

Most of us are not talented receivers when it comes to love. Whether or not we are able to give love has surprisingly little to do with its polar opposite of being able to open to the love coming towards us. We refuse the love we say we want when we complain about the packaging it arrives in. We refuse the lover we say we want when we blame them for what they are not. We refuse the love and the lover we say we want when we justify our refusal in the storylines of anger, guilt and inadequacy. In fact, most people when pushed to the edge of their refusal to receive love will admit to what may be the most painful universal wound of all – the belief that underneath it all we don’t deserve the love we say we want.