Are you happy? Ask yourself and think on it deeply. It’s easy for us to say we are happy. But happiness, like any emotion, is not to be taken lightly. Why are or why aren’t you happy right now, in this moment? Are you choosing to focus on sorrow and pain because you think that’s what the situation calls for? What can you do to be happy if you aren’t but want to be?We associate happiness with good things happening TO us: getting a promotion at work; having a great relationship with someone; finding something we want to buy is on sale right when we are ready to buy it; a sunny day or a snowy day depending on your outdoor activities; hearing your favorite tune on the radio; the list goes on. And if something “good” isn’t happening TO us in the moment,  sometimes we just don’t have that euphoric feeling, then we might grumble about trivial matters and live miserably for that moment. Is this how we should be defining the one emotion that can lift and carry us through our toughest times, by allowing situations to dictate our happiness?

What if you learned you can control your happiness, just as you can control your grief, your anger, your apathy, your desire, your love and any other emotion you experience? Would that make difference in your life? Well, if you haven’t already figured that out for yourself, let me tell you that you can although it may not always be easy, especially when you are out of practice.

Many people believe they can only react, in a defensive manner to life’s situations. That simply is not true. We can always be proactive with our emotions. But like all successful attributes it may require a little focus and effort from us. The question then becomes: how serious are you about being happy?

You can always wait for something good to happen to replace something less desirable from life that happened to you. Time may heal all wounds, but isn’t life already too short to feed on the pain and sorrow that certain circumstances will bring? I’m not suggesting to never have a good cry, or not go run off some steam from a challenging moment. But I do believe that having Free Will carries the responsibility to limit how long we entertain those emotions that do not enforce the feeling of happiness. We need to tap into the energy that happiness brings and focus on creating an environment in our lives where happiness dominates the emotional roller coaster. I personally believe the Power of God, that is Christ, is the divine Source for that energy. With Christ all things are possible.

In order to be happy all we really have to do is change our mind. In some situations this may be easier than in others but when our mind has lost the focus of being in a happy state what we need to do is think and believe “I am happy”. However if you are in a difficult situation and have invested time and energy into a less fulfilling emotion it may require more effort than that. You may need to think about and focus on something that does make you happy: your children; that special person in your life; sunshine; a fond memory of another happy moment in your life; the examples are endless. The Bible provides many verses about being joyful too and being able to recall them by heart can be uplifting. But one thing is certain, being happy is a choice.

If you have tips on how you stay happy, please share them by commenting. If you want to know more feel free to contact me.