Hi y’all! Good to see you back. This is part two of a four part series on The Keys to Happiness. If you missed part one, please CLICK HERE to catch up. So in part one we talked about how giving up certain things in my life made room for my soul to be happy. Today we’re going to talk about how OWNING UP to my shortcomings contributed to my path to happiness.

Remember the story of my teeth? If not, or if you missed it, HERE is where you can read it. Let’s use that as an example. I neglected my teeth for years and then when I had to face the consequences, I became angry and hurt. I responded as if I had not contributed to the outcome. As if I was a victim of some crazy world that was always “against” me. I failed to recognize the part I played in creating the reality of my rotting teeth. I blamed my grandmother for passing down her “rotten teeth” gene. I cried out to God asking why He would allow such a terrible, painful, and expensive situation to happen to me when I was in such a bad financial place. At one point, I even remember thinking (I may have spoken this aloud but can’t be sure) that it was my son’s fault as I never had issues with my teeth prior to giving birth. He must have used all of my calcium during his development.

I did the same things in regards to the active addict in my life. I responded to my addicted loved one the same way I responded to my rotting teeth. As if I played no part in creating that situation, as if it was some “curse” I was born to bear. Now, please understand, I am in no way insinuating that I caused my ex-husband to be addicted to drugs. I DID NOT. However, I was reacting as if I did not participate in creating the situation I was in. Be clear, there is a difference. I did not cause him to take illegal drugs, but I did participate in the chaos of our home. Things in our home were not crazy just because he was addicted to drugs, but because he was addicted to drugs and I was addicted to him. He did and said crazy things in order to obtain and use drugs while I did and said crazy things in order to get him to “act right”. (If you want to read more specifics on that, please check out part one HERE.

Today, I am embarrassed to tell you these things about my teeth and about my life with an active addict. But in order to make room for true happiness in my life, it is important that I tell you. It is important that I “tell on myself”. I have to OWN UP to what I was thinking, feeling, and being at that time. It is my truth. And I must speak my truth. Good or bad. Right or wrong. I must always speak my truth. It is the only way for me to find peace and happiness within myself.

I still find myself leaning towards wanting things to be the fault of others. It seems to be my default mode. The difference between then and now is that I can recognize it, OWN UP to it, and choose to speak my truth. Tell on myself and OWN UP to my participation and responsibility. If you want to hear more about my experience “OWNING UP” you can check out my previous post No Matter What.

What do you need to OWN UP to in order to be happy? Are you ready to talk about it? Are you ready to choose happiness? Email me, let’s reason it out together.

Until next time, take care of yourself and find the next right thing to do.

All will be well,

Niki