12 Keystones to Reclaiming Your Happiness

As I looked back over my journey from fear to love, I discovered Twelve Keystones that I had to embody, or perhaps I should say master, so that I could reclaim my happiness and awaken to the truth of my magnificence. Through teaching about my experiences, I found they apply universally. I have shared them here!

You are the playwright of your own life! The backdrop for life is like a Magical Theatre, and as the star of the production, we are each free to create our own roles, changing them at will but first we need to investigate the myth, truth, and magic of our lives and discover what is working or not. Magical means anything is possible. We are limited only by our choices.

Your perceptions create your reality! What is real? Everyone in the Magical Theatre thinks they can personally identify objective standardsof physical and emotional reality, when in fact everyone operates from a singularly unique point of view. We need to release the point of view that our subjective thoughts and emotions form the foundation of a fixed reality that can stand the test of time.

You are not the voices in your head! Who makes the decisions that run our lives? If we listen closely, we can identify fearful voices trying to direct the action of our life’s script. To escape their influence we can turn to our own impartial observer, a compassionate and loving presence who is the eyes and ears of our heart and available to reliably make supportive decisions.

Self-love silences the critic! The dominant voice in any cast is the tyrannical critic—the inner judge who critically sizes up our every word, decision, and action. This punitive approach to self-improvement doesn’t work. What does work is to employ the efforts of our impartial observer and interrupt the criticism with an antidote of self-love. This begins paving the way for a more joyful and expansive life.

Free yourself from false beliefs! False beliefs perpetuate melodramas of unhappiness, keeping us entrenched in life-constricting myths and disabling us from playing a fabulous starring role in our own production. To gain freedom from insidious beliefs, we need to root them out and see that, although they’ve governed our reactions for a long time, they are lies. Beliefs born of fear cannot withstand the light of truth.

Sacrifice your mask to save your soul! Nearly everyone in the Magical Theatre presents a false persona of self-righteousness for fear of being seen as wrong. Removing the mask implies taking the position of no position, allowing the impartial observer within us to witness the situation without needing to change it. We must cultivate forgiveness for ourselves and others, releasing the need to be seen as right.

Be present in the heart of Now! Discovering our authenticity requires not a journey of self-betterment, but a sojourn into the heart of now. The present moment happens to be the only point in time where new choices can be made. The moment is all we need, for only in the present moment can we can take responsibility for our emotional experience of life. Being present in the moment helps us take emotional responsibility, dodge the dangers of denial and blame.

Patience is the fastest way to the authentic self! Self-awareness does not generally come in a flash of illumination; instead it requires patience for what matters is not speed but the absorption of wisdom. The path to self-awareness is like a spiral, a fluid progression of stages that leads an individual forward at the pace most advantageous to them. Rather than intellectually understanding each stage, we must actually experience the lessons in order to progress.

Use your voice to speak the truth! Honest communication originates in the heart, where the spark of divine wisdom resides. We need to learning to openly expose who we are and how we feel—regardless of the particular audience. When we express ourselves with candor, we discover the richness of our own authenticity. This authentic self-expression entails fearless articulation of the spirit of the divine at our core—and it all begins and ends with love.

Live from your heart to express your soul! The soul is our direct connection to the Divine, and it expresses through the heart. The soul is our abiding connection to the heart of the Divine Mystery. It communicates with all of creation through the heart, and we experience this expression as love. Love—not romantic love, but the soul’s love that flows directly from the heart of Creation—allows us to achieve the highest form of human possibility by living authentically.

Accept what is without need for improvement! Acceptance is the elixir at the core of awakening. Acceptance of ourselves, along with everyone and everything in the Magical Theatre, is the key that unlocks our awareness. Acceptance is an action that, unlike passive resignation, embodies the ability to lovingly release ourselves from attachment to the outcomes of events or situations. Active acceptance means removing the armor of defiance and trusting in the wisdom of the Divine Mystery.

All is perfection! Awakening from the illusion of fear offers the ultimate gift: we are a reflection of the divine spark, and are born whole and faultless. Acknowledging that we reflect the divine at work in the universe awakens within us the knowledge that love is our birthright, perfection our inheritance, and happiness our legacy.