As you may recall, on Feb. 28, I posted the first step to happiness which was to figure out the reasons behind whatever material desires you may have. Operating on the assumption that you already know that material possessions will not bring sustained happiness, the second step is relatively easier. The second step can be simply summed up as: making the conscious choice to be happy.
Whenever confronted with a situation, you have the freedom to choose how to react to it. How you react determines your level of happiness. You can either be miserable or be happy. It is that simple. Keep in mind that to respond to a situation from a positive point of view does not mean ignoring the reality of the situation but rather seeing it from a different angle.
Take for example the perpetual discussion everyone seems to be having about the economy. Every day some news story or commentator points out that things are bleak. Unemployment is extremely high and so on. You can either allow this news to make you miserable or you can try your best to do something about it – but do not let it affect your level of happiness. Can your misery solve the issue at hand? Does one ounce of your worry make the Dow Jones Index go up? No!
Your happiness does not mean that all the problems of the world will suddenly disappear. That is a common misconception about happiness. There will always be challenges in life for us to overcome. There will always be different points of view. That is what happens when you have billions of people sharing a planet. Happiness is a way of looking at life. You can either add to the misery by being miserable or you can add to the joy by being joyful.
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It really is that simple!
If often find myself in a bluesy mood. It lasts until I remember to tell myself that the mood is my choice and I’m free to choose any mood I want. I know it and I know it works. I wish there was an easy way to remind myself the moment I notice the bad mood rather than have to wait the few hours it usually takes.
Btw .. love how you use those two well-known pictures without feeling the need to explain them. I take that as a strong sign of respect for my intelligence. Thank you Nadia!
Ian
@ Ian – At least you notice it…even if it takes a few hours. That is a good thing. Not many people even notice it…so you are ahead of the game! And as for the pictures, it never occurred to me to explain them. I figured people would know…so yes, I respect your intelligence!
@ Roger – I think we all have had sad thoughts and sometimes we enjoy feeling sad. As weird as that sounds, I do think there are moments when we like to feel sad. It may bring us some added attention from people we love. I think also there is more respect for a sad thought than a happy thought. So don’t feel bad and like I told Ian, at least you are aware. That is a huge step to becoming more mindful!
Thoughtful post!
I also sometimes let myself to be sad. In other words, I don’t fight the sadness – I just observe it and realize that it’ll pass. The idea of that all things are impermanent (including our thoughts) helps me keep things in perspective. This usually makes me feel better.
“Your happiness does not mean that all the problems of the world will suddenly disappear. ”
Yes, the school of hard knocks taught me that happiness is all about how you relate to your problems, not what problems you have. Good post Nadia.
@ David – Glad you liked the post! I think many people think happiness occurs when there are no problems and it just doesn’t work that way. It is all a matter of perspective!
Thanks for this post. I think we could also look at choosing to be happy as letting go of our attachment to life being this or that way. If we drop our internal complaining about the situation right now, that can actually empower us to bring about the changes we want. Like Ram Dass puts it “the world is perfect, including my desire to change it.”
@ Chris – I love that quote from Ram Dass. I have not come across it before and I agree with you about the attachment. I think many people have a mass belief as to how a happy life should be. It is as if there is this picture of what represents happiness and that is the standard we all should go by. People forget that each one of us is on an individual journey and we each have our own version of happiness.
Hi Nadia,
There’s a quote that I love that I think poignantly expresses this same truth:
Thank you for another great post.
Hi Michael,
I absolutely LOVE that quote!!! Do you know who wrote it?
Oops, I thought that by including the author in the “cite” value of the blockquote tag it would automatically show up. Live and learn I guess. Anyway, the quote is by Sant Rajinder Singh.
Hi Michael,
No worries about it not showing up! Thank you so much for letting me know. I will have to read more about him.
I like the end of your text a lot. People who are happy are no different than others; they are not richer, they do not live a perfect life. They are able to enjoy the little things of life and take pleasure from what others will not even care to see.
Happiness as a way of life, I like this!
Hi Louis,
Welcome to Happy Lotus and thanks for the comment! It is always nice to get positive feedback.
Happiness is definitely a way of life.
Great advice!! I also believe that it is all a matter of choice. Do we choose to be happy or do we choose to wallow in self-pity, blame and worry? When we realize that we are in charge of our own life, we experience a shift. We make choices that align to happiness and abundance.
Hi Evelyn!
You are absolutely right. The choice to be happy lies within each of us. Hope all is well!
I like when you said, “happiness does not mean that all the problems of the world will suddenly disappear.” So many people need to hear this.
The true is life is going to have problems. Happiness is a state of mind, we can choose to face life’s problem in a happy state of mind or choose to deal with the problems in a negative state of mind. I believe we can better handle life in a happier state of mind.
Thank you,
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Giovanna,
I am glad that you liked the post and I liked how you said that we can handle life better when we approach life from a happier state of mind. That is so true!
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