Happiness is a choice. It is something we decide that we’re going to feel. There are so many things in our everyday lives that distract us from this. If we’re not careful we’ll get sucked into the belief that our happiness is based on our circumstances rather than our state of mind.

This concept can be difficult for us to wrap our heads around because everyday we’re conditioned to believe the exact opposite. Everywhere we look we’re bombarded with things that will “make us happy”. There is always one more thing we need to change about ourselves or one more gadget that promises to make our lives easier. Each advertisement we come across makes our pursuit of happiness a little more difficult.

Imagine seeing a car commercial with a fashionable, smiling mother walking to her car to bring her perfectly dressed, gleaming children to school. Everything is in perfect order. The sun is shining and you can almost feel the mother’s calmness and contentment. Meanwhile you’re fighting with your preteen to get out of bed and attempting to stop your toddler from dumping out yet another bucket of toys!

Later on once everyone has been dropped off and you finally have ½ a second to breathe you look around your own car. Your service light came on 687 miles ago, the backseat is a sea of Cheerios and the floor has enough dirt and sand that you could probably start planting things. “I NEED a new car” you think and as you do a vision of your kids laughing and running to your new car flashes through your mind.

Here’s the thing, you know a new car isn’t going to make your morning routine any easier or bring you any new happiness. The problem is that the notion that you would like a new car has been instilled in your subconscious and typically when we receive new things we feel a sense of joy which leads to a feeling of happiness. This plight has created one more lie as to why you’re not 100% happy.

From a very young age we’re taught to work harder so we can achieve more. To make goals and set our standards high. What we’re not taught is to stop and appreciate where we are in the present moment and to celebrate each and everyday. I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive for more. One of my favorite hashtags is #madeformore. What I’m saying is that happiness is a choice and we MUST make the conscience decision to stop and be fully happy in this moment. 

Don’t think about what you’re working on, where you’re going or where you ultimately want to be. Just stop, close your eyes and say to yourself “I’m happy, I feel happy, I choose happiness.” Only allow things that bring you feelings of joy and happiness to enter your mind. This may seem silly and it won’t change anything immediately, but I PROMISE if you keep doing it, it WILL work. The best part is you have absolutely nothing to lose besides the possibility of a greater sense of well-being.