Feeling Happy is a Choice You Make

Life is a journey... We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

Alfred Souza once said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin." At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my "life".

This perspective can help us to see that there is no way to happiness.

Happiness is a way!!

Some choose to live happy regardless; others let their reactions determine how they will feel.

So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. ..and remember, time waits for no one. So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until 28,000 seats are sold, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes

on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, to decide. .....that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

You are the one who defines what happiness is to you. You are the one who decides if you are happy or not. So being happy is a choice and a decision you make. You can choose to be happy at anytime.

Just as rapidly as your emotions change when you hear an old song on the radio that takes you back to a fun time and you feel good, you can put your mind on happy thoughts, your goals and purpose in life and shift your mood anytime you want.

You choose to be sad or mad because you think others think you should be or because you can manipulate others to give you something.

Because really what does being in that mood itself do for you?

And it speeds aging and weakens your health.

Rather than having to go to a mood to get what you want, why not choose to be happy anyway move on to what's next in your life and create what you want with your gifts, talents and positive influence. Be mature and ask others to support you, don't have to use a mood to get it.

When you have chosen to feel depressed because you are not getting something you want, remember it is your choice to feel depressed. You could choose to feel another way. It is so easy and can be as quick as when you are driving in your car listening to the radio and an old song comes on and you start remembering that time and are smiling or bopping along with the music feeling happy, then you catch yourself and say, oh wait I am depressed and go back to that feeling so you don't feel hypocritical about feeling depressed. You just proved you can switch it on an off.

When we have expectations that are higher than our reality and they don't get met, we feel we are missing out on something. If you learn not to be attached emotionally to outcomes or results then it won't matter what happens, you can choose to still feel good. so either lower your expectations, or decide not to be attached, just do what you are to be doing, and accept the results that come. Then evaluate whether you need to change your actions or attitude and continue living and being who you are and improving and press on.

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly,

and continuing until you get better.

So the next time you start to say this made me mad or sad, remember that really, it is just something that happened or what someone did. You decided to be mad or sad. You are the one who made yourself sad!

Why not decide to live life happy in spite of the bumps now that you know you can? Take control of your life and how you feel. Choose to feel happy, because you will have more success if you do and you feel better in the meantime. No one wants to join you feeling sad or depressed. So you won't be able to move out of it, or get ahead or help others or get much help. But if you decide this is not the end of life and you know you will be able to have more success and joy in the future, then the sooner you choose to get on with it the sooner you move toward that next success.

Happy and Successful people do not let their temporary circumstances determine their emotional state. They decide how they will feel and take the actions to get what they want. They chose to be content in the process, because it is what gets them to the success. There are no smooth roads and

downhill paths to success, you have to create your own happiness, not wait for others to create it for you. Or else you are a slave to them, a victim dependent on others who has given up all your own power. Realize you are as capable as others of having happiness. Consider those in worse situations than yourself who have made a great life. Now take a breath and discover how powerful you are, determine who you are, what your purpose in life is. Then commit to pursue that and take the next step in that direction. Be excited about each step even rocky ones because they are getting you closer to the success. Why not enjoy the path instead of complain about it all the way until you get what you want. Can you imagine if you were given an unexpected inheritance of a million dollars but you were told you had to climb a mountain to get it, would you complain all the way up, or stay excited about the treasure you were coming into?

You design and create your life. choose to enjoy the paths not just the finish.