Let’s talk about happiness. What is happiness? The answer to that of course is going to be different for everybody, but in general, happiness is a state of mind where we feel contentment and perhaps joy about where we are in life or what is happening in our lives. When we are feeling happy, we feel more lighthearted. Happy people radiate positive energy and I think happiness spreads happiness. When you smile at someone, you are sharing your happiness with them. If you scowl at someone, well then, that’s the opposite of spreading happiness and you are sharing your bad mood!
Some people always seem happy and others seem to never be happy. It’s not so much because everything works out perfectly for them, although some people do seem to go through life unscathed, but it’s because they choose to be happy in spite of everything else. We all know that person who always sees their cup as half empty instead of half full. They are never happy with where they are in life or what is going on, so they always seem dissatisfied, grumpy, bitter, negative. In my mind, these are some of the saddest people because they waste so much of their life waiting for things to get better, never realizing that they alone have the power to make themselves happy. We don’t want to be around people like this much because they suck the energy out of us.
Life isn’t perfect. Life in fact can be very hard and sometimes seems unfair to many of us. It seems some people have all the luck and others can’t catch a break. Those people I say, who keep getting up no matter how many times they are sucker-punched by life, are some of the strongest people I know. It’s easy to be happy when everything is good. It’s easy to be happy when you haven’t faced any hardships. It’s not easy to get up every day and decide to be positive and put a smile on your face despite wanting to run away and give up. It takes a lot of energy and resolve to keep pressing forward and to keep a positive attitude. It also takes a lot of faith…..the belief that it will get better. The knowledge that life is still good!
Recently, the world was moved when a beautiful young woman from Zanesville, OH who calls herself Nightbirde, appeared on America’s Got Talent. In her late twenties with stage 4 cancer and a 2% chance of survival, this brave and beautiful woman got on stage and sang like a songbird exclaiming positivity. As she proclaimed onstage, “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore to decide to be happy.” What a powerful statement! And isn’t that the truth, really? It’s clearly her truth. She believes in herself and believes that there is beauty and meaning in her pain. She even said “I am so much more than the bad things that happen to me.” I don’t see her as a cancer patient. I see her as a ray of sunshine and hope.
We tend to make life harder for ourselves by overthinking & over-analyzing everything, which is contrary to living in the moment and just accepting things as they are. Happiness then is a choice. Choosing to see the good. choosing to see the beauty in between the pain. Choosing to see the light even in the darkness. There is always a silver lining. There is always a rainbow somewhere. Make it a habit to choose joy over sadness because life isn’t meant not be lived in sadness and worry. We know that worrying is the opposite of Faith. We are meant to live our lives Fearlessly and Faithfully with happiness and joy in our hearts, not fear, anger, and disappointment. It’s hard, I know. I am imperfect myself in letting things go but I am trying to be better at that and I can tell you when I let go, it feels so much better than hanging on! Go back in your mind to being a little kid, holding onto a balloon that you purposefully let go of, just to watch it rise up in the sky and see how far it would go. Now, pretend that balloon holds inside it everything you need to release, and simply….let…it..go…wherever the wind takes it.
Fearlessly and Faithfully, let it go and choose HAPPINESS!
