Happiness is a Choice

Are you happy?  Do you think happiness is out of your control?  Do you think the events in your life are what determine if you are happy are not?  According to a Gallup study, 57% of Americans are happy, 40% are trying to be happy, and 3% are suffering.  Are you part of the 40% trying to get happy?  While genes may account for up to 50% of our happiness, the good news is that we can control the other 50%, so happiness can be learned and managed.

It is not what happens to us in life but how we react to it that matters.  When you choose happiness it does not mean you will not experience challenges, but happiness is a choice and shouldn’t be determined by outside circumstances.  You can feel like a victim and let it affect your happiness or you can look for the good in the situation, find a solution, and know that this, too, will pass.  A great tool for helping to eliminate stress and to increase happiness is to breathe!  According to Harvard University, spending just 10 minutes a day sitting still and breathing can increase happiness.

Happiness is also not about having more things. Dan Buettner, author of Thrive: Finding Happiness – the Blue Zone, says that the happiness that comes from a new purchase such as a new vehicle lasts, on average, about nine months. So don’t look outside yourself for things to make you happy.  Happiness comes from within, so make a decision to be happy.  Make sure to mind your mind and think happy, healthy thoughts, as they will determine your emotions, your feelings, and in turn your happiness.

Avoid unnecessary worry and realize that 90% of what you worry about never happens.  Don’t worry about the things you can’t control.  Instead, let them go and don’t expend valuable energy on those things. Worrying will just paralyze you and keep you from taking action. Let the worry go, take action, and get busy controlling what you can.    Don’t worry, be happy!