When you think about it, that song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin has some very profound wisdom bottled in a goofy little tune. We should consider ourselves lucky to get this song stuck in our heads as I did earlier today.

These are the official lyrics to the song from Bobby’s website (www.bobbymcferrin.com)

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy”

Here’s a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it Double
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
Ain’t got no place to lay your head,
somebody came and took your bed
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
The landlord say your rent is late,
he may have to litigate
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
Ain’t got not cash, ain’t got no style,
ain’t got no gal to make you smile
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
Cause when you worry your face will frown
and that will bring everybody down
Don’t Worry - Be Happy

Honestly, that’s something that, until a few short years ago, I never imagined I would ever say.

I used to be someone that took the game of Life entirely too seriously. To me, it wasn’t a game. Life was this thing you had to conquer and dominate, otherwise it would dominate you and keep you down. I didn’t smile much, and even to my friends I was a serious, moody brooding person with a bad temper.

The key here is realizing that at the core, we’re all here in this existence playing a huge game with each other. Just like playing cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, we’re all just playing with one another, be our roles knights, princesses, paupers or thieves. All of these roles and situations are just to make the game more interesting as a whole.

Unfortunately for us, most of us have gotten so caught up in the game that we forget that we’re just playing. Suddenly all the monsters and demons become real to us, and we buy into suffering and pain. Suddenly it’s not fun anymore, and we feel we must endure our experiences because the suffering and turmoil is all there is. In effect, we’re blaming the state of our game on the overall game and its rules.

What we have forgotten is that we created the games in the first place. We can always go back and change the game we play. We can choose to play a different game at every moment. We are free to set our rules for how we want to play. Only our belief that our situation is real and unchangeable limits us.

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in my transition from that person I described earlier and where I am now - a state of joy and pure bliss that just keeps getting better every moment - is that by remembering that I’m just playing a game I can release the monsters and suffering I had put myself through in the past.

In doing so, I’ve released literally TONS of stress and negativity from my life, leaving me more open to receive the abundance that is the natural state of our lives. We need only be willing to allow ourselves to receive the gifts that Life wants to provide us. I’m able to play my game better. And I’m grateful to all the people around me playing with me and creating an interesting game for us all to play.

What’s the difference between moving towards the positive instead of away from the negative? Aren’t they the same thing?

No, they’re not.

When you move away from a negative influence, your focus remains on the negative. You’re still giving it energy because you’re still focused on it, even though your intent is to move away from it. What that ultimately means is that no matter what direction you move away from it (and it can be hard to tell what direction you’re going in if you’re not looking where you’re going) or how far away you move from it, that negative influence will remain because you continue to focus on it, using it as a measure of your progress.

On the other hand, when you move towards a positive influence, your focus is on the positive. All your energy is on that positive influence. You’ll move away from any negative influence by default - so you needn’t expend any energy towards the negative whatsoever. Plus, you’ll be moving in a clear direction towards your desired outcome instead of simply moving away from something you no longer desire. And the Universe loves clarity.