Have you ever noticed that all our lives (from parents, education, media, etc.) we’re taught that happiness is an emotion? That it’s a direct result of a good life—–one that is without struggle?
Up until recently, I was convinced that happiness was something you gained from life happening perfectly; happening just as you wanted it to. I’ve always been envious of naturally happy people (you know, the ones that seem to have a certain energy about them that everyone—-including you, is drawn to?) I found myself asking “Do things just not go wrong for them?” “How can they be so positive when the world is so—–not?” I was determined that I was hopeless when it came being one of those “zest for life” sort of people—-things definitely didn’t go right for me.
But then I learned something.
Life sure didn’t go right for them either. They were still experiencing the same unfortunate things I had been but what separated us was our perceptions in life. The brutual truth is, happiness isn’t anything more than a socially constructed feeling you’re taught from a young age is something external to you. However, happiness is everything but. Happiness is 110% within you; something that’s accomplishable by every single person that wants it. If you’re unhappy, the reality is that you’ve made yourself that way. This is an intimidating thought for many of us because in our attempts to find happiness, we’ve likely robbed ourselves of it. Scary.
So stop looking at what happens in your life, and start investing in the outlook you have toward it. Chances are, if you find the little bit of positivity in the bad (even if it is indeed a very little bit), you will find yourself happy. Say you fail an assignment, blow the engine in your car, get in a fight with your significant other—–whatever it is, it can be fixed. Grades can be saved, cars can be replaced, and amends can be made. Nothing that goes wrong can’t be done right with a positive attitude. You can be that person that others gravitate toward. You can be that person that makes other envious over the way you handle the curveballs. You can be happy.
We need to be teaching and reminding each other that you hold your own fate, your own happiness, in your own hands. No person, no event, no situation can take it away from you no matter what. You’re the only one that has the contorl to make yourself happy or not.
So, will you be happy today?