How happy are you right now? You can choose to be very happy at this moment, no matter what is going on in your life. Happiness comes from within. It doesn't come from other people or external circumstances. Situations outside ourselves can certainly add to our happiness, but we create our happiness from within. Sure, winning the lottery would make us very happy, but we can be happy with just pennies to our name if we choose to do so.
Most of us grew up learning how to deny ourselves happiness. We learned that our source of happiness was outside ourselves, so we looked to other people, events, material goods and situations to make us happy. Those things can only give us fleeting moments of happiness. We deserve lasting moments of happiness.
We also learned to put off our present happiness for sometime into the future. We would wait to be happy when we accomplished some type of goal or met a milestone in life. How many times have we told ourselves, "I'll be happy when I lose twenty pounds or when I finish school." Somehow, we just can't be happy with where we are at this moment in life. Remember happiness is a choice, so we can choose to be happy now before accomplishing our goal.
We also learned not to be happy based on whatever was going on our lives. Any painful, challenging moment meant we couldn't be happy. Being separated or getting a divorced meant that we couldn't be happy. Having a debilitating illness meant that we couldn't be happy. Being in debt meant that we couldn't be happy. Getting laid off meant that we couldn't be happy. Choosing to be happy in the face of painful experiences can help us work through these circumstances and find the true meaning of these circumstances in our lives.
It is easy to see the patterns of how we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we can't be happy at this moment. Can you see how we deny happiness every day? It goes even deeper. Some of us are afraid to be happy. We fear that if we are too happy, then something bad will happen to take away our happiness. Somehow, we will be worse off emotionally. Sometimes we feel guilty or don't think we deserve happiness. We choose sadness over happiness. In doing so, we increase the burdens that we carry on our shoulders.
Life was meant to be happy. Every person deserves to be happy. Happiness is your birthright. Nothing you can do can take away from your birthright to be happy. You might not have been the nicest person in the world or maybe you did something you aren't proud of, you still deserve to be happy. It is up to you to choose happiness and create it from within.
How do you create happiness from within? Look at the bright side of everything in life. Be grateful for your life as it is today. Be grateful for the small, simple aspects of your life instead of pointing out what is wrong with your life. Stay away from the gloomy, depressing side of life where there is little light and joy. You have a choice about what you let into your consciousness. Stay away from the depressing news reports. Don't spend time with people who have a negative outlook on life and complain constantly about their problems. Don't dwell too much on your problems. Focus on what is going well in your life instead of what isn't working.
Be satisfied with the small things in life such as being able to take a breath, being free to come and go, being able to walk, having an alert mind and being surrounded by people whom you love. Celebrate the small things that you might, otherwise, take for granted. Stop for a moment and stop chasing bigger, better and more materialistic stuff. Appreciate what you have now, regardless if it is less than you had before. Just appreciate having your life and the potential that every person has in this lifetime. Choose to be happy today!
From this day forward, let's choose happiness. When we make a conscious choice to be happy, we find that our problems seem lighter. We can see the solutions much clearly. We can solve those problems and move on to better days. When we linger in sadness, our problems seem like endless burdens with no resolution in sight. Choose happiness and slowly dissolve away your problems.
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