#84 Happiness is A Choice

As you go through life, you'll likely to encounter people who are doom and gloomy, negative-minded, and will suck the energy out of you.  They will whine about how miserable their lives are ("I was,...I can't .... I'm too....) or attempt to make you worry about things you can't control, like the weather, death, etc. ("OMG, did you hear what they say on the weather radio?  It's gonna rain a lot tomorrow and there's a chance it might flood our county!!")

It is true that whatever you put into your mind will affect your output, your actions, behaviors, mindset.  Input = Output.  If you listen to trashy songs all the time and hangs out with people who cuss 24x7, there's a good chance you will start following and producing the same behaviors and actions.

We wish we can say, "Avoid those people like plagues," but the fact of the matter is, you have never been in their shoes so you can't judge them.  Also, if you remember in the Bible, Jesus spends His time with the outcasts, alcoholics, prostitutes, lepers, criminals, disabled people, and so forth.  He did not share their doom and gloomy attitude but because He prayed every morning before sunrise and was in constant communication with His heavenly Father daily, He was able to bring happiness to these people.  Which brings to another advice: "Don’t add to people’s burdens, or take away from their happiness."

But the main message we want you to hear is that happiness is a choice.  People may criticize you, talk behind your back, ruin your career, frame you, etc. but in the end, when you wake up every morning or at every hour of the day, it is up to you to show up as the best you ever or as the worst version of you ever.  Here's a simple example.   Say you are in middle of a heated argument with your friend or significant other, and the telephone rings.  You saw the caller ID and it's your boss or pastor or a good family friend that you respect.  Unless you've lost a few marbles, most likely you will change your entire demeanor and tone of voice in less than a few seconds to that of a chirpy happy voice as you greet the other person on the phone.


Remember, you choose to be happy.  It's an inside out process that ignores external circumstances.  A child runs to her father because she's so excited to see him, while she's running she falls down and hurt her knees, she cried for a minute or two because of the pain, but she smiles again because mommy and daddy are now tending her scraped up knee and she's getting tons of kisses.  Instead of choosing to whine and pout all day and all week long, she chose to be happy and enjoy the blessings of each moment.