Happiness Is A Choice

Happy Monday M.I.D.A Project Readers!

If you haven’t noticed by now, I try to start each post with the word – HAPPY!  I do this because happiness should and is a pursuit that is worth keeping in the forefront of our minds and actions.  The rest of this post is intended to be a pep talk for those who are still attempting to decide whether they want to be bitter or better.  It is for people like me who have experienced their share of frustration associated with life.

Happiness doesn’t come from other people it comes from within and is not easy to recognize.  Realities of life have a way of robbing us of the ability to see the strength to create and recognize moments of pure joy unless we are looking for it.  There are things which will bring us down, such as:

1. Illness;
2. Job Loss;
3. Grief & Bereavement;
4. Being single, married, divorced;
5. Bad day at work;
6. Insensitive boss;
7. Bad breakup; and
8. Any number of other things which can happen in life.

These things happen and we can get caught up in feeling that we have been unfairly targeted or not rewarded.  We get the why me syndrome and then if we aren’t careful it can turn from self pity into bitterness.

But that will not be a productive use of our time.  In fact it will accomplish the one thing that will prevent us from making achievements.  We miss the successes that are along the journey of life – things like:

1. The smile of children dressing up in new clothes for the first day of school;
2. The child going off to college for the first time;
3. The new car scent in your new to you vehicle;
4. The sun shining after numerous days of rain;
5. Rainbows in the sky;
6. Graduation from school;
7. Receiving an A or B on a test; and
8. Any number of similar things.

It is easy to lose track of our own responsibility to achieve and maintain internal happiness when we look for things and people to fulfill or reaffirm us.  Today my baby boy was unable to receive a medical evaluation that we had waited months to get scheduled, all because our insurance didn’t feel that there was a need for this service.  Whomever wrote the rules associated with coverage of health needs has never lived with a child or a parent that needs medical intervention.

I can choose to be bitter and give in to my feelings of helplessness or I can wipe my tears and focus on being happy that I have a child whose life is not dependent on that medical evaluation.  I am choosing to embrace the happiness of having my child with me and able to hug and kiss.

My happiness is predicated on me.

What is your happiness predicated on?  How will you ensure you recognize those moments of success that occur during each day?

Til next time,

“Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.”  ~B.K.S. Iyengar