For Happiness, Avoid the Momentum Traps of Unhappiness

Lying on the couch, vegging out in front of the TV, it becomes so easy to just keep doing that. That is my big Momentum Trap.

Overeating makes it easier to continue overeating.

Feeling sorry for yourself... focusing on the negative... thinking about things that do not make you happier... it just gets easier and easier.

It is all about momentum. The momentum of your life, your day, your attitude. Momentum can be a trap that we all fall into; and from which we all have the power to pull ourselves.

Step One -- Recognize Your Momentum Traps
Think about it. What are the things you do that put you on a path toward negativity of any kind? It could be something big, like dwelling on something important in life that has gone differently than you wanted; or it could be any of the small things in life that we allow to drag us down (lying around doing nothing productive, eating poorly, or lingering over the myriad injustices that happen to any of us on any given day).

Step Two -- Do Something, Anything, Positive to Make a Change in Your Momentum
Really, it is just that simple, at least to start; and it gets easier and easier, and becomes more of a habit, the more you do it.

Here are a few Momentum Changers that work for me:

• Take a walk
• Call a friend or someone else I enjoy
• Pick up a book
• Make a to-do list and start working in it
• Get out and do pretty much anything
• Clean something
• Go to the gym
• Write in a journal
• Volunteer for a local charity

Your Momentum Changers will be unique to you. Thinking it through, finding your Momentum Changers, and using them when you fall into Momentum Traps, can make a huge difference in your day-to-day life. The more you do it, the easier it will get, and the happier you will be.

Anyone Can Be Happy, an Introduction

Impromptu afternoon date with my lovely wife, Leigh.

People have often said that I am one of the happiest people they know, and they are right.

For me, happiness is not just a lucky accident; it is a daily choice. Yes, I have the best life of anyone I know, but that is largely a perspective. It is a choice to view my life that way. It is a choice that I make every day, one that sometimes takes work.

I have found that the more I work to create my happiness, the easier it gets. It gets easier every year, every month, every week, even every day.

My life, I believe, is charmed and perfect. From the outside, though, someone could easily disagree with me (my mother, for example, could easily share myriad reasons that I should be borderline clinically depressed!.

Let me give you an example.

• In 2003, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a disease we know will get at least a little worse pretty much every year or more often, for the rest of my life.
• In 2004, my dad, a man I basically worshiped, died after being sick for two weeks.
• In 2005, my wife of nearly a decade left me with absolutely no warning, two days after returning from what I thought was a trip of a lifetime in Europe.

And, yet, I look back at the 2000's as the best decade of my life up to that point.

Yes, this is helped by the fact that the 2000's also gave me some great adventures, and I met and married the woman I believe is my soul mate. The key, though, is that is where I put my focus, on the positive things that happened to me. The beautiful. The happy.

Also, for most of the past 2 years, I have been collecting and creating secrets to happiness -- life rules, processes, and tips and tricks.

This blog will share what I have learned and how I have become one of the happiest people you might ever meet, by choice. Most importantly, I believe I have lessons to share that will help pretty much anyone live a happier life.

Anyone can be happy. You can be happy.