February 10th, 2010
Choosing Happiness
Tonight I decided to stay in and eat chinese takeout (shrimp chow mei fun) and when I opened my fortune cookie, I actually got a pretty good fortune.
This is something I’ve been thinking about recently, focusing on the positive parts of my life over the negative. Sometimes I have the tendency to stress about the 5% of things in my life that aren’t so great instead of focusing on the 95% of things that are going well. When I do this, I end up being upset and grumpy instead of enjoying my blessings. The thing is, it’s all a matter of what I choose to focus my time, energy, and emotions on.
This article from Self Growth sums it up: “Remember that we can always choose happiness. At first it will be difficult to just switch your thoughts and feelings from anger, self-doubt, or fear to joy and happiness. But it is only a thought away. Don’t dwell on what happens to you unnecessarily but realize what is causing you to feel that way. Realize that thoughts, feelings and emotions can change. Then move on and choose to be happy.”
I recently applied this while on a long car drive the other day. Sometimes when I’ve got too much time to think, I dwell on things that irritate or frustrate me. I started getting upset over something I had no control over. Once I realized this, I purposely “changed the subject” in my head and focused on the good things in my life, the ones that make me the most happy. It worked, and I started to feel better.
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“The primary cause of unhappiness is not the situation, but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral, which always is as it is.” - Eckhart Tolle
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What do you think? Is happiness really a choice or is it determined by what happens in our lives?
Do you think you could make yourself happy by changing the way you look at your situation? Are you willing to try?