Secrets of Happiness
by MatheasAs a person who has struggled with depression a great deal, and was also led out of that tunnel for whatever reason, I have come out with a very good understanding of both depression and happiness. I also know what happiness is and what it isn't. This knowledge precipitated from an Near-Death Experience (NDE) during and after which I was set correctly on the purpose of life and what happiness really is, and what is needed to be in that state.Not all the ways here were received from direct reception. Many of them, especially the nutritional ones, were known to me beforehand. And most of all, this is of course no complete repository! No one knows everything, but I hope to share what I've learned.
Items with a * preceding them were lessons from or directly related to the NDE.
Go Fluoride-Free
Fluoride is believed to interfere with normal operation of the pineal gland in the brain, which is believed to be the centers for spirituality and joy. Fluoride is one of the few elements such as lead and mercury which is NOT a nutrient and has no place in the human body! Fluoride replaces calcium in the body. The problem for our purposes is that calcium is an essential nutrient in the proper functioning of nerves and the neurological system. But also, although fluoride is, in America, widely believed to makes bones & teeth stronger, it is known properly in the rest of the world to do exactly the opposite, and massive amounts of money are spent to take fluoride (an industrial waste) OUT of water (because of its weakening/brittling effect on bones & teeth), we take the industrial waste (typically from fertilizer, pesticide, and nuclear industries) and put it INTO our drinking water, apparently because the stuff is too toxic to put legally into nature. Recent research is pointing to fluoride having a deleterious effect on thyroid function.
Get rid of:
- fluoridated toothpaste (check a health food store or website for multiple brands of non-fluoridated toothpaste)
- non-stick pans (teflon is fluoride-based). Try to avoid eating at restaurants which use non-stick pans (they often use metal utensils and cook with very hashed non-stick and/or aluminum pans)
- stop drinking tap water if your municipal water is fluoridated (it probably is--that is another huge issue for me; fluoride is NOT a nutrient--at best it is a "medicine", at worst and more realistically it is a poison, so everyone who uses municipal water--even for bathing--is being forcibly medicated, which is unconstitutional, being against the principle of freedom)
Go Aluminum-Free
Aluminum is a neurotoxin. I call it "lead lite". Things which interfere with proper neural operation will lead to interference with mood & spirituality.Get rid of:
- aluminum cookware (hard-anodized aluminum is probably okay)
- canned beverages (the acid in sodas and most juices makes this even worse)
- aluminum canned food. But some aluminum-canned foods are coated on the inside, either with plastic or a different kind of metallic coating; these are acceptable.
- mainstream deoderant. Any deoderant bought in a supermarket will have aluminum (normally as a chlorohydrate) its primary active ingredient. Over the years, a massive amount of aluminum gets absorbed into the body, which can build up in the brain. If you insist on using deoderant, go to a health food store and experiment with several brands (ones with tea tree oil seem to work the best). Avoid "mineral salt" deoderants because they are primarily alum, a salt of alunimum--less dangerous than mainstream deoderant, but still aluminum. Rubbing alcohol will also knock out odor-producing bacteria, usually for several days.
- makeup & other cosmetics. Aluminum (and other metals) are used heavily as colorings.
- aluminum leavenings. Read ingredients of prepared food and look for aluminum in the ingredients (usually in leavening) and try to avoid those products, at least long-term. Throw out any aluminum-based baking powders in your kitchen and buy new aluminum-free ones (easiest to go to a health food store).
Get a Juicer (and use it)
I have always recommended (with no incentive for me) Breville's "Juice Fountain" type juicers for most people, even though leafy greens and wheat grass cannot be juiced in them. Even juicing once a month or less can improve your quality of life and nutritional level. During and after the drinking of live juice, you can feel the positivity, energy, and clarity it brings you. There are simply nutrients which cannot be provided in "supplements" because they are only found in raw live foods. Unlike any other animal on Earth, the perfect human diet exists nowhere in nature. Humans are in a chronic state of malnutrition. Juicing is the best way to achieve the nutrition we were always meant to have. By the way, the fact that an ideal human diet exists nowhere in nature suggests that we did not originate here, or at least we did not originate from the Earth's current state.
Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids
Essential Fatty Acids, or EFA's, make up a huge portion of nerves and the nervous system. To maintain a proper brain and neurological chemistry, you need adequate EFA's, because your body cannot make them itself. Omega-3 is least-commonly found in food, and the only one people are frequently deficient in. I recommend flaxseed oil (available in capsules or raw liquid at health food stores) because fish oil capsules have their own set of problems and karmic baggage. After using both for years, I now see no advantage in fish oil, and many disadvantages. Flaxseed oil is easily available in capsule form, and it can be bought in liquid/bulk form, where I recommend mixing 1 parts flaxseed oil to 2 parts extra virgin olive oil, and pouring it lightly on complementary foods for a good mix of "good fats".
*LEARN TO ACCEPT EVERYTHING AS IT IS
This means accepting yourself exactly as you are. You will find that at the moment you perfectly accept yourself, i.e. your imperfections and inadequacies, in one of life's biggest ironies, only at that moment can you move forward from them. God perfectly knows & accepts reality exactly as it is. You have to do the same to be more like God. Rejecting reality in your mind (even if it is imperfection in yourself) will lead to unhappiness.
*LEARN TO TOTALLY FORGIVE YOURSELF
You need to learn how to forgive yourself totally. God already forgave you. LDS have ultimate, incredible expectations upon themselves. We are commanded to be perfect! However, falling so short of that, we feel unworthy of God's love. We cut off His love from us through the crown chakra of our head, where the connection is, and where the Love comes through. We feel others are worthy of God's love, but not us. We love others more than we love ourselves. That leaves us deficient and unnatural. We cannot fully love God in that state.
*UNHAPPINESS IS A HIDDEN BLESSING
...because being unhappy is a signal from the Allness that you are going in the wrong direction in life (mentally or path-wise). Sometimes a person doesn't have courage enough change the path they know isn't right, because they don't know what the alternative path will be. That is why it's important to developing the life skill (preferably before such an event) of intuition... to know when to take a leap of faith. A sense of intuition can be developed to the point of good reliability, but it takes work, experimentation, time, mental record-keeping, and making mistakes. If you lack courage to do things the 'easy way', often life will find a way to get you to the right track the 'hard way'. It is important to recognize the signs when a path change is needed, and developing the strength and faith (I do not mean blind faith, which is not faith) to take appropriate risks. If you were happy going down the wrong path, you'd stay there forever. You should feel bad when you do bad things, and good when you do good things. A change needs to be made when you're unhappy. I myself have not had the faith necessary to change everything I knew I needed to. The biggest ignoring of that message led me indirectly to become so ill that I almost died, which is when I had my NDE, which led to me discovering a lot of the things on this web page.
*YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE ANYONE BUT YOU
*JUST BEING YOURSELF IS GOOD ENOUGH
Reject cultural and familial expectations of yourself. All you can do is the best you can do, and that is good enough. Anyone who is to the point that they found & are reading this info will know what to do with the first sentence in this paragraph.
Practice Good Karmic Living
This means living by such statements as, "I wish to try make today free from my participation in violence". When you eat meat, you are a contributor to that violence and all the baggage of that animal growing up in an industrial livestock situation. You will find that things which are negative for the Earth, are also negative for our physical health and our souls. Few examples are as powerful as meat-eating. Producing meat is terrible for the environment in almost innumerable ways, it is bad for those who raise and process the animals' bodies (meat packing is one of the most dangerous and unpleasant jobs in the country), and it is death to those who consume it. What goes around, comes around back. Meat is the least-efficient food. The amount of energy, water, fertilizer, and the Earth's resources it takes to raise a pound of meat (by raising food to feed animals which could otherwise be eaten by humans) puts a karmic debt on you. If everyone in America went vegetarian, we could end world hunger with the amount of grain excesses we would have. Plus animals are typically fed other animals' by-products and feces as cheap feed, which causes diseases in the animals and subsequently humans, such as Mad Cow Disease (CJD). Eating meat as a primary nutrient is against the concept of Sustainability itself. We will have to learn about sustainability whether we want to or not. Eating hunted meat (animals which lived their whole lives in a natural environment, without being modified such as being castrated), combined with eating lower-form animals (i.e. eating fish), can reduce karmic baggage without quitting meat-eating completely. Hunted non-native/pest animals offer lower bad karma than native/desirable species. In other words, eating a hunted pheasant (non-native to America) would be less offensive than eating a hunted turkey, which in turn would be less offensive than eating a cow raised as livestock.
You can take this example of meat-eating and apply the same test to anything in your life... from transportation, to personal care products, to how many and what kinds of clothes & shoes you have in your closet.
*DEVELOP SPIRITUALITY
Religion is supposed to be a tool to help people develop spiritually. Sometimes religion doesn't work at all to that end, sometimes it does work, and sometimes it leads people in a very wrong direction, worse-off than they would've been without any religion at all. All true religion will help the development of spirituality. Anything which diminishes spirituality is actually false religion. The only kind of spirituality which exists is positive spirituality. "Negative" spirituality is only a lack thereof. This concept is similarly found in LDS doctrine, where there is the belief that at the moment someone abuses their Priesthood authority (i.e. to do or order something negative), that "authority" whereby such an "order" was given is automatically muted (see Doctrine & Covenants 121 34-41). In fact, Priesthood essentially lacks authority to even give commands, because even God permits us our agency to the extreme. Even so far as to be able to take away one-anothers' agency or physical lives. Only Luciferianism seeks to force, intimidate, manipulate, or fear into submission. Christianity, or "Jehovanism" as I sometimes call it, seeks to Invite and Love. Love is the opposite of fear. "The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever." -Doctrine & Covenants 121:46
*LEARN THAT BEHIND EVERY BLESSING IS A HIDDEN CURSE, AND THAT BEHIND EVERY CURSE IS A HIDDEN BLESSING
This helps one to achieve a moderately more optimistic point of view when bad things happen. It also helps one from being overly exuberant when something appears to go right. I will let the reader figure out the subtleties of this one. For the imbecilic: it doesn't mean blessings are bad things, or that good things are bad things.
Drink good water, try to get away from Chlorine & Chloramines
Good water is pretty essential, and getting more difficult to find in modern times. Through all my research, the only way to be sure that the nastiest chemicals (deliberately put into water) are actually taken out, is through methods which also de-mineralize the water as a side effect, which, in my experience or opinion, will over time demineralize the body too. Minerals dissolved in water are apparently very important to the chemistry of the water and how it interacts with our bodies. And adding them back is not a simple matter. At the time of this writing, I still have not come across a filtering system I'm satisfied with. I also concluded that water filtration systems do not actually save money over bottled water, but they do eliminate lugging. I did have positive results with carbon-ceramic filtering of collected rainwater, however stopped that experiment when I realized rainwater was probably pulling with it contaminants from chemtrails. This was very discouraging to me, and I am not yet satisfied that microfiltration removes the aluminum and barium contained in chemtrails (and whatever else is in them). So, I reluctantly announce that my current recommendation is still to buy bottled water. Get water which is minimally treated, and specifically not treated by Reverse Osmosis or Distillation (these would be demineralized waters). Also eschew water labeled as "Drinking Water", as this is usually filtered municipal water (and therefore typically floridated in the United States). I look for "Spring Water", and I check the processing methods on the label. Labels such as "Micro Filtration" and "Ozonation" are acceptable. I've found the cheap, generic spring waters most often to be the best in this regard. The plastic you inescapably get is not great, carrying its own set of problems. I simply do not have the perfect answer (if you have something better, please share it).
I used to recommend shower filters, but most of them (particularly Copper-Zinc versions) are only effective on free/elemental chlorine. Today, a nastier concoction is frequently used by water companies. Recall your mom telling you to never mix ammonia and chlorine bleach? Well, the reason was because that creates chloramines... extremely toxic. Guess what? That's what most water companies put in drinking water now to "purify" it! No kidding! Worse, it's very difficult to remove. (Not as difficult as fluoride, though.) If you use municipal water, you can find out the chemicals used (throw in a bad word against fluoride while you're at it, please). If you're lucky enough to have a water company which just uses plain chlorine, the chlorine will evaporate just sitting out over time (filtering isn't even necessary). Chloramines are much more difficult, and carbon filters only lower the amounts, not eliminate--and some do better jobs than others, but it is possible to get rid of them in drinking water... but for high-flow needs such as shower filters, it's difficult, and a lot of water gets absorbed through skin.
Chlorine works (kills things) by acting as a "free radical" (a chemical which is electrically very eager to react with something else) by disintigrating chemical bonds in biological organisms. If possible, removing chlorine from your bath will leave you with more energy and a more positive and refreshed attitude after a shower. Copper-Zinc type shower filters don't actually "filter" the water, but change free chlorine into harmless Zinc Chloride. Copper-Zinc shower filters have a higher flow rate than the carbon filters more common in local hardware stores, but both should be used with super-saver showerheads (which you should be using anyway--see section on good karmic living).
Stop Using Drugs & Stimulants
Caffeine, alcohol, and many over-the-counter meds upset the natural brain chemistry in the body. While you gain short-term profit, it is a deal with the devil, and the devil always takes his due. Anything which disrupts healthy balance of the body will interfere with spirituality and affect mood and energy distribution. My experience with caffeine is that it can be a good safety failsafe as a short-term stopgap while night driving (buying you enough time to safely find somewhere to sleep). However in typical workplaces, it is radically abused, and I've found not necessary to perform typical jobs, even in fairly extreme cases of sleep deprivation. Caffeine really messes with your Adrenal glands, which work closely with your very critical Thyroid glands. People really don't understand the critical and symbiotic nature of these, and while I don't have a good technical understanding of them, I have come to appreciate their importance, and learn of many problems caused by malfunctioning adrenal and/or thyroid glands. Thyroid problems are rampant in the USA, and I believe fluoride and perhaps other quackery in medicine are causing it. Unhealthy adrenals and thyroid will interfere with you being happy, and will affect your emotional state. And subsequently spirituality, assumably.
*DO NOT CHASE ILLUSIONS
Materialism is an illusion and one of the most popular illusions today. Materialism is an unhealthy attachment or preoccupation with or desire for any physical pleasure or achievement. This includes sex, food, clothing, drugs, possessions, and anything along those lines. Preoccupation with the physical plane is called Physical Orientation. Being physically-oriented is diametrically opposed to one's ability to be Spiritually Oriented. That is most of what was meant when Jesus said, "you cannot serve God and Mammon". Many people, especially supposedly "successful" religious people (who often become leaders in both their profession and their church), believe they can do both simultaneously. They are wrong.
Chasing an illusion is going down the wrong path. Anything which leads someone down the wrong path will lead to unease, disease, or unhappiness. Happiness, by countermeasure, is an indication that one is on the right path, or at proper balance, or going in the right direction. True happiness is exceedingly rare in our society and apparently the world. Earthly humanity is obviously still recovering from some tragedy or cataclysm which sent people literally back to the stone age. That tragedy was arguably precipated (or not avoided) by society at that time collective choosing the wrong path. We have worked thousands of years at least to get to the point where we are today. We have been held back in progression (technologically and socially) by those in arenas of obscure influence. Society has had the chance to make the final push through the door into the new age. It appears, however, that rather than having the courage to take the leap of faith to do what's right which is really the 'easy way', we may end up making those final positive strides the 'hard way'. True religion seeks to help people & society take the easier path. The illusion is that it is the harder path. The perceived 'easy way' is often the true hard way.
We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. Not the other way around. Trying to live 'that other way around' will lead to counterproductive results.
Learn The Difference Between Good & Evil
Okay, this one won't lead to more happiness :-) . At least not short-term. In fact, learning this will lead to a lot of misery short-term. And it is still that 'easy way' above-described. The reason is because 'ignorance is bliss'. This is NOT a simple topic. In fact, it is very confusing. Because the best lie is closest to the truth. Sometimes, the difference between the right and wrong thing is so small that a person can do something thinking they are doing the right thing, and it can be totally wrong. Look at the way Mormons treat males with facial and/or long hair, or males who refuse to wear ties/cravats to church (especially those who do so by the principles of righteousness). Mormons in their mind actually think they're doing a favor to God by excluding these men from full membership in their church & community. This includes denial of entry at BYU (or even permission to set foot on the campus, or even live in BYU-approved housing), and the denial of these men of temple and higher Church service positions (anything from a bishopric counselor on up). Many religious people live their lives afraid of going off "the edge". Those who have fallen off "the edge" find that the edge was only a couple inches lower than they already were. It is hard to be emphatic enough about this. People need to be more aware of their TRUE state of progression. Simply avoiding supposedly "major" sins-against-self and sins-against-others and participation in service project activities and regular church attendance IS NOT enough--or even often substantive. The meaning of life is very much in the small things. Common religion teaches the opposite. Often, the 'little things' are more important than the 'big things'.
*Lessons from, or directly related to, my NDE.
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