What do you tell yourself about happiness? Do you say, “I will be happy when my student loans are paid off,” or “I will be happy when I lose 15 pounds,” or “I know I will be happy when I get married.” Seriously, stop reading for a second and think about your “I will be happy when…” reel.
Mine used to be, “I will be happy when I am lean.” “I will be happy when I am more successful.” I will be happy once my child gets through this stage.”
Over the years I have found that happiness is abundant and always with us, we just need to take notice. Happiness is an choice/action just like love. When you feel good about something-ie secure, successful, proud etc you have the secondary emotion of being happy.
You can even trick your body into feeling happy. Watch this video with Amy Cuddy:
Here she talks about how if you hold a pencil horizontally in your mouth that your brain is actually tricked into thinking you are smiling and it improves your mood.
What do you choose to be happy about? For me, I’m a simple girl. I am happy when I get to go for my walk outside or when my son comes up and hugs me for no reason. I choose to enjoy hanging up the laundry, seeing an older couple cut me off as they do their one outing for the week. When my husband brings me my favorite coffee drink.
My perspective on happiness now is that it is always with me waiting for me to make the choice, “Am I going to notice and experience it?” Now I don’t always make the right decision but I certainly try more often.
I know there is a movement in our culture that is trying to warn us not to ‘wait’ to be happy. All the sentimental plaques that say, “Enjoy the Journey,” or “It’s not the destination, it’s the experiences along the way.”
You may be thinking, “But what if my life sucks right now and I don’t have anything to be happy about.” Fair enough. To answer this I would like to share with you a sermon I heard one morning. It was about a boy that asked his dad why they used manure on their flowers since it stunk up their yard. The father explained to his son that sometimes the things that stink the most manifest into incredible after-products. We simply need to get through this icky period to grow the most beautiful garden. The same can be said about life. We go through some really ‘stinky’ times but those are our ‘growing’ periods that ensure we are going to come out the other side bigger and better than ever possible had we not had the hardships.
My point of sharing this is that you may feel you have a stinky situation right now and being happy is just not in your power, however I would say this. You can choose to be happy for your life ‘manure’ because you know it is helping you reach your maximum potential when the smell lifts.