Happiness is Mostly a Choice

In the end, no matter what my life is like... no matter what I may be going through... no matter how hard things may seem... I know that my long term happiness is mostly my own choice.

Honestly? Sometimes this statement seems insane, even to me. Life can be so hard sometimes. There are times when the deck seems stacked against me. There are times when happiness seems impossible to achieve.

At these times, here are a few reminders I find helpful:

• there has never been a single instance in which it has helped me to be unhappy
• unhappiness has its own momentum; it is up to me to change directions, to shift that momentum
• people will put up with it for a while, but nobody enjoys being around someone who is unhappy
• the more I can project happiness, the easier it will be to feel happiness (fake it 'til you make it!)
• nobody else has the responsibility to make me happy; it is up to me
• I have the power to be happy; it is within me and if I choose to be happy, I will eventually be truly happy