Don’t Worry, Choose Happiness

Life is uncertain. Stocks go up and down, hurricanes hit, and we breathe a sigh of relief that it isn’t us. Or is it? None of us are immune to life’s vissisitudes.  There is great news though. Studies now confirm what spiritual traditions have taught for centuries: happiness is good for your health, relationships and pocketbook!

There are two sure things that can lift your spirits when the worry bug bites. And bite it will. With today’s uncertain political and economic climate, fear and anxiety abound.  Clients throughout the country say the same thing: “I’ve lost xyz amount of my retirement, I can’t sleep, my mind just goes round and round.” 

Those are all valid concerns. Yet, there is a deeper truth here, and it is available for those that rise above the challenge at hand. The choice for happiness may provide the actual momentum needed to help us find creative, innovative, and downright brilliant solutions to our material prediciments.

There is, however,  no guarantee that we will stay happy in our life, other than the committment we make to choose happiness as a response. There are a few things you can do to alleviate the voices in your head that will tell you it isn’t a choice.  The first of these is gratitude, the second is forgiveness. Sometimes it takes a while to get there.

Generally speaking, misery loves company. When worried minds get together, more worry is created. Negative emotions breed like rabbits!  Choose your company wisely. Make a conscious deliberate effort to find something to be grateful for. Gratitude and worry cannot exist in the same space – namely the space between your ears. It may take some creative work to find gratitude for something when the chips are down, but it can be done. Gratitude breeds happiness.

Secondly, forgivess is not something you give the other party whom you perceive has harmed you. It is something that you give yourself.  I expect you have noticed that waiting for someone to say they are sorry for their actions is a long time coming!  Not only that, but I bet the offender hasn’t given their offense a second thought.  You, however, are left with a bruise that can rapidly become a bad attitude.  Forgive, forget (which doesn’t mean set yourself up to be harmed again) and get on with it.

Choose happiness.  It feels better. It’s simple but not so easy a choice.  It’s far simpler to indulge in anger, upset, blame or resentment.  Only you can practice, practice, practice. The reward: a happy heart.

The bottom line: Worry never solved anything. Happiness, on the other hand, is wildy contageous!