Happiness is Always a Choice

If you could choose your mood like you choose your clothes for the day, what mood would you choose? Is choosing your mood or state of mind really a choice anyway? A lot of people I'm certain would say no to that question, but I totally believe the answer is YES. No matter the circumstances, no matter the challenges or adversities you may be facing, no matter what the weather looks like outside, or what may be going on inside of you, you always have a choice to choose happiness or not. Bottom line is, you are in control of your focus. And that means, at any given moment, you can choose peace, happiness, positive thoughts or misery, unhappiness and negativity. I know a lot of people are saying yeah right, I mean that guy in the parking lot stole my spot, or that woman in traffic cut me off, or my boss said a harsh, mean comment to me. I had no choice but to react the way I did. But somewhere inside of you, either consciously or unconsciously, you decided how to react, or not to react at all.

All of life is a choice. I grew up in a family with a very angry and reactive father. Putting it mildly, there was a lot of abuse there! There was not a lot of love and compassion in our home, but somehow I managed to stay positive through it all, while a lot of my family to this day has continued to hold on to the hatred and anger. For me, I had an absolute moment of clarity and perspecive one day when I was about 20 or so, and I realized that I could either continue to hold on to my hurt, anger or pain, or I could DECIDE in that moment to let it all go and forgive my father. And decide is a powerful word. I made a decision to once and for all, let it go. In that moment of decision, my life was positively impacted. There is a song I am sure you have heard of. It is by June Carter Cash. It is called "Keep on the Sunny Side" The lyrics start out with:

There's a dark and a troubled side of life
There's a bright and a sunny side too
Though we meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view

Keep on the sunny side always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day it will brighten all our way
If we keep on the sunny side of life

This is a great little song with a large implication. So remember, the choice is always up to you and me. As our focus, so is our experience. It is not always easy to be positive, but it is well worth the effort. No one likes a grouch. Life is too short to be miserable and unhappy, take the challenge and as June Carter Cash's song says, keep on the sunny side!!!