Happiness Is A Choice

I don't think there would be one person in the world who would say they would love to live their life in unhappiness. Each and every one of us want to experience joy, satisfaction, enjoyment, and fulfillment, but not just in spurts, we want to feel that happiness on an ongoing basis, in all aspects of life. We also have to be realistic and understand that life will continually heave challenges and adversities upon us, but once we discover true happiness in our life, we have that positive mindset and attitude to, not just accept such times will happen, but also to openly embrace them and be proactive in overcoming them. The big questions are, how do we discover this happiness, and does such happiness even exist? Well the answer to the second question is yes, it does exist. The secret to happiness rests within our mind. No matter how many, or what, suggestions and recommendations myself, or other motivational speakers, life coaches, positive minded, or already genuinely happy individuals, offer you, no one can bring you happiness. Happiness is generated from our own individual thoughts, perceptions, beliefs, and choices, which of course all start from the mind. Happiness is a choice! With all the negativity in the world, which contributes to why so many negative minded and pessimistic people surround us, combined with all the adversities and stresses that we have to deal with in life, our mindset and attitude will constantly be tested. There is no reprieve basically. Therefore, it leaves us with a choice of two options. The first is to allow that negativity, adversity, and stress to consume us, and draw us into constantly feeling unhappy, miserable, negative minded, and pessimistic, which will never get us anywhere in life, let alone bring us happiness. The second option is to remain positive minded, to focus on the positive aspects of our life, to remain goals driven, to be optimistic, to continually believe in ourselves, to be proactive in overcoming all adversities we encounter, and to actually concentrate on finding happiness within life. We can't be happy if we choose not to be happy, it's that simple! Happiness indeed starts within the mind, but today I am going to enlighten you on five different ways to encourage happiness into your life, so you can live a life of satisfaction and fulfillment.

1.- Kindness, Generosity & Helping Others

The majority of people worldwide get so caught up searching for their own happiness, success, and prosperity in life, that they end up detaching themselves from living with decent morals. Their life becomes dominated by selfishness and greed, because they are sad, unhappy, and miserable, therefore they focus solely on trying to enhance their own life, often at the expense of others. The biggest drawcard for people is money. Money can buy luxuries, it can buy houses, it can buy cars, it can buy holidays, it can buy brand new products, and it can provide us more of the things we want in life, but one thing money can't buy though, is happiness. People genuinely believe that if they had more money, it's then they will finally discover happiness. Many rich, successful, and famous celebrities who ended their own life, are proof that money definitely does not buy happiness. We seem to believe that if we continually focus on ourselves, and only ourselves, we then increase our chances of happiness, success, and prosperity in life. The truth is, it's actually the opposite pathway to where happiness is found. We undermine others, we deceive others, we defraud others, and we do anything that we believe is necessary to provide us with personal gain, when all along, happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment, all come from our ability to help others in life. Now it's not to say that we should just forget about pursuing our goals, and instead, go about prioritizing helping others, it's about remaining committed and be working hard to achieve our goals, but also allocating some time and money to make a positive difference in the lives of others. It's keeping true to the decent morals of generosity, kindness, compassion, encouragement, support, and upliftment, towards others. A random act of kindness can much a difference to someone, and when we can see, or even just have that knowledge, that we have brightened someone's day, that we have brought a smile to their face, that we have helped them, or perhaps that we have even made a positive difference in their life, that's where we find complete satisfaction and happiness. Lifting up others is the perfect solution to lifting yourself up.

2.- Do What You Love

One of the biggest reasons why people are unhappy in life, revolves around their career. I harp on about it regularly in my blog entries, but how can you possibly be happy doing something you don't enjoy, or be doing something that makes you miserable? With every 9 out of 10 workers in the world working a job or business they dislike or hate, is it any wonder there are so many negative minded and unhappy people in the world? Sure we need to make a living for ourselves, and be generating an income in order to survive, but there's no rule in life that states we need to settle for a job or business that we don't like or enjoy working for. The problem is we are educated to believe that we have to have a job, yet we are not educated on any other legal avenues to generating an income, such as entrepreneurship or investing. Once in a job, it's then that people begin to feel stuck and trapped, because they need an income, plus because of the long hours they work, they are limited for time to even so much as research other income generating options. Either that, or there are those that are just plain lazy to invest time to research. Remember, happiness is a choice, therefore, when it comes to career, you have a choice of either finding happiness within the job you are working, or you find a job or working option that does bring you happiness. Personally, I don't believe it is possible to find happiness in doing something you know full well that you don't enjoy doing, which leaves the more practical choice of finding a working option in which you are truly passionate about. Even if that means a few years of sacrifice and hard work, just to get qualified for the job you are passionate about, or to really start generating some results within your business, you have to do what you have to do, in order to find happiness. Like Confucius says; "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life". Three words; pursue your passion! The alternative is to spend 45 years of your life being unhappy.

3.- Follow Your Heart, Not Others

Influence, manipulation, peer pressure, and the need to be liked. These are four destructive reasons behind why happiness is absent in our life. We are negatively influenced to believe what society wants us to believe, rather than what is necessarily the truth, or what's best for us in life. We are manipulated by people to make decisions and follow directions, not for what is in our best interest, but what best fits their agenda, or for what is convenient for them. People will always give you advice and suggestions based on their experience, or for what they believe is best for you, yet most of the time, it's not what is best for you at all. We are often pressured into doing things, believing certain things, and making decisions, because if we don't, we will be criticized, ridiculed, and judged. Peer pressure starts from as early as our school days, as we feel obliged to follow what others are doing, especially if they are classed as "the cool crowd". That leads us to the need to be liked. We become so concerned and worried that if we make certain decisions, execute certain actions, believe in different things, or behave in a different way, that people will start judging us, start gossiping about us, lose respect for us, and even dislike us. We are so hung up about how others perceive us, or what others think of us. These four reasons aren't destructive because of other people, they are destructive because we allow them to be. Again, it's about choice. We need to be making decisions, and executing actions, that we believe in our heart to be right for us, that we instinctively believe are in our best interest, and that we believe are what will lead us to our goals and a future blessed with happiness, success, and satisfaction. We are going to annoy the crap out of people when we follow our heart, when we remain committed to our own decisions and actions, and when we pursue our goals, because again, it doesn't fit their agenda, or it's not what they want for us, or it inconveniences them. If we are going to find happiness for ourselves, we need to ignore how others perceive us, or how they criticize us, or how they judge us, or how they gossip about us to others, or how they try and deter and detour us from continuing our journey towards our goals. Happiness can only be achieved if we follow our own heart, we pursue our goals, and we trust in our own instinct.

4.- Surround Yourself With Positive People

Ask yourself honestly, are you really going to be happy if you continue surrounding yourself with negative minded and pessimistic people? Considering that the overwhelming majority of people worldwide operate from a negative mindset, it's not an easy task finding positive minded people to associate with. Guaranteed that most of your family members, friends, work colleagues, other associates, and perhaps even your partner, live their life operating from a negative mindset. They are constantly whinging and complaining in life, they love to gossip about others, they are extremely moody, they always see the worst in circumstances and situations, they can often be very discouraging, they engage in non-productive activities, they have worldly views and beliefs, and they even can be very unsupportive of your ambitions and goals. These people are better known as being "toxic". They are toxic to you achieving your goals and aspirations, and above all, they are toxic to your happiness and wellbeing. It makes it extremely difficult when they are our partner, our family, our or friends, because we feel incredibly reluctant to distancing ourselves, or even parting ways, with such people in our life. At the end of the day, we need to do what's best for ourselves, our mindset, and our mental health. You quickly start to see those around you who have the knack of constantly bringing you down, who constantly drag you out of a positive and happy mood, into an upset, frustrated, and even angry mood. Don't be afraid to cut people out of your life, who are unsupportive, discouraging, negative minded, and toxic. You can't be happy when constantly around misery and negativity. Surround yourself with positive people, those who encourage you, who uplift you, who genuinely support you, who inspire you, who encourage your growth and development, and who drive you to achieve your goals. Seek out a mentor who has achieved genuine success themselves, learn from their best practices, and don't be afraid to seek feedback. Just engulf yourself in positive environments as much as possible, and disengage from any negatively driven conversations and interactions. The less exposure to negativity, the greater the opportunity for your mindset to remain positive, which then increases the likelihood of you feeling happy.

5.- Practice Gratitude

Finally, practice gratitude and appreciation. What is one of the most common things people whinge and complain about? It's about what they don't have in life. I never have enough money, or I need a new car, or I'm tired of renting, or I hate my job, or why can't I have the same nice possessions as my neighbor does, or I'm tired of wearing these old clothes, and so on. People are constantly whinging and complaining about all the things they don't have in life, and then feel sorry for themselves. If only more people actually took the time to turn their mindset around, and stop focusing on all they don't have, and instead, start focusing on all they do have, then perhaps they may realize how blessed they truly are already. To put it bluntly, if we can't be satisfied and happy with what we have in our life at present, how can we ever expect to be satisfied and happy? We'd all like some of those luxuries, and more modern devices and objects in life, which would undoubtedly enhance our life, that's just natural. Unless we can appreciate and genuinely be grateful for all the things we do already have in life though, we will never be satisfied, that's a fact! Too often, we take for granted all the amazing and wonderful blessings that we see, use, touch, hear, and smell, every single day. We tend to think that we are underprivileged, when in reality, we have a plethora of blessings that many around the world would die to have. From clean running water, to clothing, to having a roof over our head, to having a bed to sleep in, to having food in the refrigerator, to owning a car, to having a loving family, to having eye sight, to having the ability to walk, and much much more, we are unbelievably blessed in so many ways. Once again, it's the word; choice. We choose to focus on what we don't have, which makes us frustrated and unhappy, rather than choosing to focus on what we do have, and have gratitude for, which leads us to becoming so thankful, appreciative, and satisfied. The less we focus on what we don't have, and the more we focus on being grateful for what we do have, the happier we become.

The choice is yours! You can choose to be happy, or you can choose not to be happy. That choice is made from within your mind, but the best way to assist your mind to feel that sense of happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment, is to help others, be generous, be kind, be supportive, do what you love and enjoy in life, follow your heart and make your own decisions, surround yourself with positive people, and show gratitude and appreciation for all that you have in life. If you're not happy in life, then you, and you only, have the responsibility to make decisions and changes, that will lead you towards a future enriched with happiness, success, satisfaction, fulfillment, and even prosperity. Pursue your goals, and commit yourself to achieving them, irrespective of what others say, or how they choose to perceive you. Happiness is a choice, so make the right choice and be happy. If you're not happy, then make changes, and do whatever you need to do to discover that happiness in your life.

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