Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin. ~ John Lubbock

Happiness is the inner joy that can be sought or caught, but never taught or bought.  ~ Unknown

He is not happy who does not think himself so. ~ Publilius

The best way to secure future happiness is to be as happy as is rightfully possible to-day. ~- Charles W. Eliot

We are as happy as we make up our minds to be. ~ Abraham Lincoln

What you surround yourself with, even what you have stored away, has an impact on you at the energetic level.  Some of the things you surround yourself with are Baggage, some are History, and some are Diamonds.  These terms reflect the relative impact the objects have on your happiness and peace of mind.

Baggage represents items that have negative energy or negative memories attached to them.  History items have neutral energy and are often items that are functional and that you picked up to fulfill a need.  Diamonds are objects that awe or inspire you by their beauty or just bring a smile and/or a happy memory.

Let’s start with the most energetically neutral items – the ones I call History.  These are the functional items that you acquired to fill a need as you go through your life.  You needed a dresser or a book case so you bought one.  It may not be the exact style you would have liked at the time but you can always replace it later with something that suits you.

On the other hand, Baggage items trigger negative memories or have some sort of emotional strings attached.  They may have great monetary value or they may be junk.

Maybe you inherited it from Aunt Harriet but you don’t like it.  You may hold onto it out of a sense of obligation or just because you feel it is too valuable to part with.

Maybe your ex-mother-in-law gave something to you, and it brings up negative thoughts of your ex-husband.  The more you revisit the negative in your life, the deeper the pathway is created in the brain until it becomes a trench that is hard to move your thoughts out of.

In addition, negative or down thoughts often lead you to subconsciously seek out things that make you feel better like eating sweets. Do you really want to revisit those negative thoughts?

Maybe you have an unfinished project that you just can’t get yourself to complete.   You need to make a decision to complete it or to let it go.  The knowledge that the project is perhaps even buried away in a closet impacts your sense of worth and happiness.

Let’s look at the Diamonds around you.  These are the items that radiate positive energy. When you see them, they thrill your heart with their beauty or craftsmanship.  They bring a smile or a happy memory.  They just feel right to have around, because they reflect your wants, needs, desires, and happy times.

We have a tradition in my house of purchasing an ornament for each family member that reflects something in their life from the past year. In this way the chore of decorating the Christmas tree becomes a pleasure as each ornament reflects a happy part of life.  The tree then becomes a joy to behold and radiates positive energy.

What I want to encourage you to do today and from now on is to remove the Baggage, the negative energy items in your surroundings and increase the Diamonds, the positive energy items.  You can donate the Baggage item, sell it or give it away secure in the knowledge that you are increasing the amount of positive energy in your life.

If you wish to bring more joy into your life and have your surroundings reflect the Source within you, then you deserve to be surrounded with more Diamonds and NO Baggage.  Spend time only with items that make you think about how wonderful each moment is.

To Price Your Collectibles
Kovels.com –Offers free price checks on many collectibles
Appraisers.org – you can get free advice from local antiques or collectibles dealers