Choosing Happiness

June 02, 2014

I think and write a lot about the things that contribute to a happy life in general, as well as what makes me, specifically happy. Lately, I’ve been thinking about one particular factor: choosing happiness.

I know I have a good life. And as I become more mindful of that life, while doing the everyday, ordinary things that make it up—driving to the grocery store, browsing the library shelves, cooking dinner—more often I’m choosing to feel happy. Happy instead of rushed, instead of frustrated, resentful, worried, etc. Happy.

I’m not talking about pasting on a happy face when life is truly hard, or denying pain and negative feelings. I’m talking about recognizing how happy ordinary life can be. Instead of feeling neutral or hurried, instead of zoning out and not feeling anything, I choose to feel happy.

How about you?


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4 comments

  1. Dear Kathy - so much wisdom in this post my friend. I think how much happier we are when we live in the moment. Thank you so much for reminding me of this fact. Take care and have a great week.

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  2. Thank you (and you're welcome), Debbie. Hope you have a mindful :) week.

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  3. A wonderful post, Kathy. This is the 2nd time today that I heard this message. The other was a story about some one who was behind a slow moving truck. Instead of being rushed & angy she chose to be happy. When she did, she noticed the beautiful pattern of logs that were loaded on the truck. She was so moved by the beauty that she would have missed that she pulled over to the side, filled with emotion...
    Part of feeling happiness for me is, as you say, being able to experience sadness too...

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  4. Rita--Must be something in the air! It's certainly a message we can all be reminded of.

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