“Alegria: jubilation, merriment,
cheerfulness, joy;
much happiness”

The other morning I awoke with a few bars of music in my head. I “listened” for a while, trying to identify the song. When I realized it was from Cirque du Soleil, I asked my husband for help as he loves Cirque du Soleil. Without hesitation he offered, “Alegria”.

I felt the song was a message for me; well-being was not to be enough anymore.

You may remember I wrote about well-being here saying that since my had son died, I had given up on happiness in favor of seeking a state of well-being. Well-being seemed like something I could achieve.

When I caught myself feeling sad I would remind myself, “No, well-being.” I noticed that when I did this my eyes automatically looked up and level. The combination of this eye movement and focusing on my intention to achieve well-being was affecting me. It was shifting me from a state of sadness to one of balance and calm.

Do you believe we can change the way we feel by moving our eyes? I believe we can.

We know that when we are sad our eyes are often downcast. From that position, when we “look up”, we literally lift our mood. When we hold our gaze level, looking straight ahead, we feel calm; steadied. If I was accessing a feeling of well-being by stating my intention and raising my eyes could I achieve a feeling of alegria by raising my eyes a little bit more?

In driver’s training, you learn that if you suddenly come upon the scene of an accident you should look where you want to go and you will navigate your way through. This is because we move in the direction of our gaze. But how many times in life do we stop and stare, sometimes for years, at the scene of an “accident”?

“I see a spark of life shining… Alegria!”

Well-being was the spark. I can fan that spark.

Do you believe we can affect how we feel by moving our eyes? Do you believe our spirits move in the direction of our gaze?