If you think I have the audacity to tell you these choose happiness quotes can help you feel better in the midst of your divorce, your impending lay off or your umpteenth fight with your adolescent children then you’re absolutely right. Kinda.
Yes, happiness is a choice. No, it doesn’t come easy.
Happiness is this seemingly allusive quality that we strive for … always grasping at circumstances outside of ourselves, therefore outside of our control. The moment we realize that we don’t have control out of ourselves we also realize we have a choice. We can either be frustrated by the fact that others are striving more for their happiness than they are for ours or we can make the decision to choose happiness for ourselves. The moment we do that we’re left with a “now what” kind of feeling. At first blush choose happiness quotes can feel like a call to attempt to manipulate others and our circumstances … but we know, now (and we can’t unknow) that’s simply not how happiness works!! Which puts you back at “now what.”
Surrender to the opportunities in your hardships and you find your first step on the path to happiness.
The surest way to multiply your misery is to be unhappy with your unhappiness. Notice, for Keller, contentment isn’t the goal, it is the outcome from letting go. Your obstacle is your chance to take the steps to forgiving yourself and others.You could also hone your self-advoocay skills or simply reclaim the power you’ve unintentionally given to circumstances outside your control. Do not ask the darkness to be different; seek to make it useful and it will be. Get curious. Be playful. Regardless of your current conditions it is your determination to find life’s gifts that will ultimately make you happy.
You choose your own happiness (or misery) in so many ways.
Everything you experience today is a result of a million choices in attitude and action you’ve made along the way. If you’ve chosen to set (and keep) healthy boundaries, for instance, you find less human-induced drama in your life. When there are real problems to face you also have a supportive circle when you need them most. This concept includes your mindset, as mentioned above. Once you’ve chosen to be reflective when tribulations arise you diminish their power over you.
Prioritize your thoughts and you prioritize your happiness.
Understand today’s choices cultivate tomorrow’s mood, as Gibran suggests, and the locus of control for your happiness lands squarely on your shoulders. Want to wring the office gossip’s neck? Rather than visualize his bloated face sandwiched between your white knuckles remind yourself that…
… somewhere in this mess is a perfect opportunity and
… if you want to set yourself up for happiness in your next moments you can focus on the chance to improve something within yourself.
This isn’t about denying he’s a pain in the ass, mind you. It’s about making space in your brain for the shit and the shinola, then opting for the one that will to lower your blood pressure.
As with any practice, you will get out of happiness what you put in.
Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. Make a habit of injecting happiness into your life and, before you know it, everything you do just seems to be … well … happier. You can see the snowball effect from that, right??
Would you rather be right or be happy?
If you believe that life sucks and you merely want to be happy in spite of life’s suckage then you haven’t really changed the underlying attitude that’s creating the problem. You will continue to find mountains of proof for how rotten your ex is and you will be right, if only because that is all you are willing to see. You’ll prove yourself “right.” All while making yourself miserable. See how he gives you opportunities to practice compassion and he becomes a spiritual teacher. Suddenly you understand that he’s fallible, and grieving, and lost … you see that you can love him and let him go. You don’t have to be “right” that he’s an asshole, you just get to move on in peace. He never deserved that much power of you anyway, did he?!
When you can’t find a reason to be happy, find a reason to be grateful and the happiness will find you.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try the perfection in the imperfection will elude you. It’s ok to choose a whole new line of thinking. Your commute sucks and you never did catch that flu bug everyone at work caught. Your kids are driving you crazy and your best friend sends you funny memes that help you get through a day. You don’t have a hangnail. Your roof didn’t cave in. Your favorite underwear are clean and your eyebrows are on fleek!! You can’t stay mad long with a tabulation of appreciation!!
Happiness is all about the little things.
As Pharrell suggests, even the tiniest gifts are worth your gratitude and with that gratitude comes an appreciation of an endless supply of magic. In any given moment your blessings outweigh your curses by a magnitude too large to calculate. If you looked closely at how much is right in your life it would be as extensive an exercise as counting grains of sand on the beach or stars in the universe. How would you have room to consider anything but your happiness as it would fill you so completely? Any other perspective would escape your notice entirely.
You are a being of Light. Light must expand. Your very nature demands it.
Having it all isn’t your reason for existence, being your all is! Being your all asks you to keep looking, keep striving, keep building. Tenacity is essential to finding (and living) your worthy purpose. If you don’t yet know your unique reason for existing on this planet, take heart! It is only through your passionate pursuit of purpose that you are conditioned to find it, understand it and ultimately act on it.
The inherent reciprocity in choosing happiness makes it easier over time.
Ever had an annoying noise pointed out to you and suddenly you can’t NOT hear it anymore? Ever punch someone in the arm for pointing it out in the first place?!
If you’re thoroughly depleted, happiness can be really hard to find. Initially you rely on others’ perceptions in order to see it until you morph your worldview through your personal shade of rose colored glasses. If your friends don’t spontaneously share their positive viewpoints about life then ask!! Pretty soon you’ll see life the way they see it. The more cheerful you feel the more amazing life looks! The beautiful thing about happiness is that the more you go looking for it, the easier it is to find!
(Btw, if the people around you quickly dismiss their own feel-good opportunities, that’s a significant clue about why it’s hard for you to revel in them. With a little practice you’ll be the pain in the ass pointing out that high pitched buzz, “haaaappppiiinessssssssss,” you hear that?)
A final reminder in this list of choose happiness quotes…
Quite simply the more joy you feel, the more joy you express. You bring beauty to the world with the smile that can’t help itself and the twinkle that lights up your eyes. Let others bask in the beauty of the world as you behold it. No matter how fleeting that moment may be…bask!! Share it. Allow others to share your gorgeous little secret: expressions of light and playfulness are more than just a few choose happiness quotes. They’re a daily practice and a lifetime’s worth of choices.
Be happy!
If anxiety has already taken hold Download The Squeeze for free, right now to help you manage it. It’s my favorite go-to practice when I start spinning. It’s also my first recommendation when you can’t shut your brain off at night. Lemme know what you think!
Triffany is a certified professional life coach who helps strong women tame their inner hot mess. Start with the book F.A.I.L.* to Win: 4 Simple Principles to Get You Out of Your Own Way and follow up with a class. Everything you touch will get easier as you go.
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