I'm Happy. How Did I Get Here?

I wasn't always happy. In fact, I was very UNhappy. I was trying to figure out for years what that "thing" was that was going to make me happy. I thought I had it all figured out at a young age and knew what success looked like. But I found out I had it all wrong. It wasn't outside of myself and people, THINGS couldn't make me happy. I decided I wanted to BE HAPPY. That journey began when I realized I needed to work on me. After years of working on me, I started to feel joy one day before I was going to teach a class. It was pure joy from inside and I didn't DO anything to make myself feel that way. Could this be possible? Could I feel joy and actually BE Happy? Yeah, I finally got there. Then I started to reflect and I asked myself "How did I get here?" After teaching techniques for grounding, clearing, and meditation to groups and clients, I realized I needed to share this information because there are a lot of people like me. Struggling with different issues, searching for a way to heal, and needing tools to assist in the process. I've helped a lot of clients with balancing work, career, and family using these tools and techniques. In my stories, I hope you find peace, joy, laughter, breakthrough, and comfort knowing you are not crazy or alone! I hope this helps you identify where you are out of balance and ways in which you can work towards achieving happiness or become happier and start your healing process. Whether it is physical, emotional, energetic, or spiritual, there is always work that needs to be done on ourselves. My Story: I used to be focused on my career and all the material worldly things that go along with it. I started out my healing work as a massage therapist for seven years until I found a job in the corporate world. Being a massage therapist, I paid attention to everything that goes on in a spa. I paid attention to how my clients were checked in and checked out. Were they greeted in a friendly manner? Were they offered to re-book? I witnessed so many things over the years of doing massage and I once said to myself, "If I ever own a spa, I'll know exactly what I'll do and how to train/teach my staff." I took great notes in my head which paid off because I went into the corporate world and did exactly that. I got to put my experience on paper and implemented all I had learned: training, hiring, educating, and being a great Manager. I decided to take control of my life when I realized I was living totally out of my physical body. I had no balance and No spirituality. I was focused on my career, climbing the corporate ladder, making money, buying shoes, looking fancy, and eating at 5-star restaurants most of the week. My EGO was in control and living the American dream. I felt so good about myself. However, at one point, when I had “made it”, I realized I was alone. Not because I wasn’t in a relationship, but because my heart was empty. I didn’t have people around me to encourage me spiritually and help me achieve balance. When I turned 30, my friends came out and visited me in Miami. I was going to celebrate and set some new boundaries with myself and others. I told my friends that for the next 30 years I was going to focus on myself; work less and find happiness. At the same time, they all laughed. I reassured them that I was serious; however, they couldn’t see it happening. In fact, one said, “Carolyn, you are a work-a-holic. Your work is your life.” I felt this deep sadness in my heart. Yes, I was a hard worker, but what else did I have? I had the career, money, got to travel; but that was it. I had no peace. I had nothing but my JOB. They were right and I didn't like it one bit. I needed to find balance. I needed to have balance. But then I asked myself, “What do I want? What is balance? How do I achieve it?”