There are two ways to be happy: change the situation, or change your mindset towards it.
Today’s society is obsessed with happiness. We want instant gratification, success, fame, soulmates that never die…
We grow complacent with people and ideas. We grow cold and bitter because we want what we want and we want it now, and sadly the Universe doesn’t work like that.
We don’t fight for what we want. We don’t have the patience to wait for the good things in life. And we certainly don’t want to put in the effort required to cultivate the necessary perspective for happiness.
Yes, that’s right. Happiness is simply a way of looking at things. A matter of perspective. It’s not a destination, but a way of travel.
It’s deciding to be who you want to be in spite of everyone else telling you to be something else. It’s liking who you are, being proud of who you’ve become.
It’s embracing all that you are (and are not).
It’s not about what you get in life, but about what you become by getting what you want. It’s about becoming the kind of person that embodies the qualities required to get what you want from life.
It’s not about possession, but about acceptance and gratitude.
“If the world was free of problems, paradise would lose its value.” – Mufti Menk
Biggest problem people have? Their belief that they shouldn’t have problems. That they are entitled to eternal happiness. Well, that’s not how this thing called life works.
Happiness is never a right. It is earned and fought for through blood and tears, and even then we all can slip and fall right back to where we started. There is no such thing as eternal happiness.
There is no such thing as the pursuit of happiness…
Happiness is simply the by-product of a life lived well. Happiness is progress. Happiness is choosing optimism and hope, day after day after day; it’s choosing to be aware of oneself and those around him.
We’re all human. We’re all flawed. But we do have it in ourselves to cultivate the proper habits to be happy.
Being contented is also a way of being happy.
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So true Christian! We are all flawed in our way. I would agree that happiness is not easy to come by. It takes strength to find it, and even through our toughest times we are vulnerable. Great post!
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“Happiness is choosing optimism and hope, day after day after day” I have known this for very long yet find it hard to apply to myself, trying my best though :)
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Someone told me once if you want to be happy, you have to be able to cry. That’s a lesson that’s really stuck with me over the years.
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That’s a genuinely valuable lesson.
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Yes!
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This: “We don’t fight for what we want. We don’t have the patience to wait for the good things in life. And we certainly don’t want to put in the effort required to cultivate the necessary perspective for happiness.” I am now finding the strength to say no to crap I don’t want to do (people who I don’t want to see or side jobs that don’t give me much pay. I would rather be a bit on the poor side but really focus on the writing so that I can sell something and get out of the poor side. I’m rambling but you get the idea.) Great post as always!
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Good points. I’ve found too that happiness is giving instead of clinging. :-)
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