I have thought about happiness a lot over the years. I used to think that I would finally be happy as an outcome of an event: “when I lose 30lbs, when I finish college and get my dream job, when I move to Chicago, when I fall in love and get married…” You get the idea.
It was always about getting somewhere or accomplishing something and then I would suddenly be happy. Well some of those things happened and some… well, we’ll save that for another day.
What I have learned over the years is that I can CHOOSE happiness despite my circumstances. Happiness is a choice, my choice. We all have a choice. We wake every day and we can decide to be happy, sad, mad…pick one.
Life does give us challenges. Sure, it’s a lot easier to be happy when your life is going well – I get that – but there are things that arise in our lives that we have absolutely no control over. Things happen. I have learned to look at them as opportunities. I can choose to be stuck and struggle or I can accept the opportunity and rise to the occasion. When you rise to the occasion, the universe will provide.
Most of us want happiness and but we’re unsure how to get it. I think it’s easy: JUST DECIDE to be happy and trust yourself that you are able to handle anything.
I loved this story, told by Michell Gielan. Take a listen! I hope it will resonate with you, too and you can choose happiness.