Happiness is a Choice

I have made this statement to others and personally follow this principle.  Happiness is a choice.  I say to myself “I love my life” even if things are not going so well for me.  When I tell myself over and over again that I am blessed, I feel blessed. I tell myself that I am not alone.  So therefore I am never alone. I was away from home for a couple of days helping someone in need. When I returned home I was greeted by a husband who missed me and a house full of pets. I am blessed.

Mastery of your own personal happiness takes effort.  Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment. It is easier to be sad and find fault with our lives.  People get so used to being unhappy that unhappiness becomes their norm.  If you force yourself to smile on a daily basis, smiling will become your norm. Feeling grateful for what you have is first step to happiness and then there needs to be humility, appropriate communication skills and a desire to control your need to obtain all your wants.  The recipe for happiness involves two parts of being grateful and not reaching for things beyond your reach plus two parts of not allowing things to bring you down.  You are in charge of your emotions.

We often practice feelings of lack instead of being grateful. We look at things we don’t have in our lives instead of being thankful for what we do have. If we choose to be enthusiastic about our lives, we will be able to overcome laziness.  We need to seek happiness like our life depends on it because it does.  Happiness and prayers have been known to cure illness or at least makes the illness more tolerable.  Happiness is the end result of thinking and behaving in a positive manner. Keep asking yourself how can I change this thought into a positive one. This book clearly delineates how to achieve happiness. When we are happy, we are able to cheer up others. 

Another barrier we need to overcome is our expectations of perfection which is counter- productive.  To master life satisfaction we have to challenge our counter-productive ways of thinking and consciously make an effort to convert our thoughts to positive productive thoughts. Selfish happiness and frivolity are considered a fault in character and represents a badge of shame.  When we have more things in our lives, we end up with less control of our lives.  We have to fight the urges to have more things in our lives, especially the things we don’t really need.

I  examine the good and bad things in my life and look for the lessons and blessings with each and every one of these circumstances.  I believe that when something bad happens that causes discomfort, we are being taught a lesson.  When good things happen to us it is the universe giving us blessings.  Either way, good or bad, there are good things that can come out of every situation.  The terrible 911 situation brought alot of people together to help those negatively effected by this disaster.  I have suffered many losses in my life; but at the same time things have come into my life to fill those voids. 

Last night I was at the Chippewa County Animal Control Shelter getting  to know more of the cats that have a temporary residence at the shelter.  They are all looking for a good permanent home.  Many of the cats are sweet, loving and fun to be around.  I sit on the floor and they come to me for attention.  When I walk in the front room where the cats are displayed in cages, the manager stated they know I am here.  Most of the cats were trying to get my attention.  At the shelter, I meet with many of the cats to conduct interviews.  I complete bios that are presented on the front of their cages and on petfinder.com.  I work with socializing the cats and both my husband and I work with cats who demonstrate behavioral problems so they can become more adoptable. We have experienced a lot of success stories.  Another worker made the same statement that the manager made and I told him "believe it or not they do more for me than I could ever do for them." Part of how I fill my tank is by being in their presence. 

I serve as a chairperson for the Lake Superior State Elders which leads me to feel that same way. On June 13, 2012 the annual luncheon was held.  What I witnessed was a room full of people who enjoyed being in each others' company.  Again, I was getting my tank filled.  We need to get our tank filled with all these heart warming moments.  I don't look at my role as a responsibility; I look at my role as chairperson as an opportunity.  Volunteering is very good for the soul. 

Take time to count your blessings.  They are plentiful.  Perhaps you have to be thankful for the small things at first such as you have a roof over your head, actually not a small thing.  When I was attending a sociology class working on my undergraduate degree, one of my professors stated that she thinks the poorest people are those who don’t have a home. When I struggle to get comfortable in bed at night, I think about the poor people living in boxes that are placed on cement sidewalks. I am reminded how lucky I am.  I soon fall fast asleep.  Happiness is a choice.