They say life is what happens while we’re too busy making other plans and, considering all the downsides and challenges we face every day, I definitely see how this could be true. I had a friend that was always busy chasing new ways to earn money, more glam ways to spend it, better or at least different people to hang with. Regardless of how much he had, he always wanted more so, when I asked him why can’t he just be happy today, he said “If I stop and actually believe I’m good where I am now, how can I be 100% happy? I’ll always wonder if I could have had something more than just that!” Well, how about setting some challenging goals and actually stopping for a second do congratulate yourself and feel good about it? Here’s why I think we should all stop for just a millisecond and be happy right now!
When we turn 18 (or 21, depending on the country), we think we know everything. At 20 something we figure out there is still a lot to learn and by the time we reach 30, we start focusing more on what’s going to happen tomorrow than on what’s going on today. We’re trying to predict everything political changes to our boss’s bad moods. Don’t burden yourself by worrying about things you can’t control and stressing over the fact that you can’t know everything in advance. You know a lot and you have a lot of experience to help you swim through those murky rivers of life. You might hit a rock here and there but worrying about the possibility of hitting a rock will certainly slow you down and make you a very dull swimming partner.
A university friend told me about one very interesting study that says that destiny isn’t all that mysterious as we think it is. In fact, if you could turn back the time, have your memory erased and do things all over again, you’d repeat every single action and decision. Why? Because you wouldn’t have any prior knowledge on why you should do things differently so everything that seemed like a good decision back then, will still remain a good decision. Now, I’m not saying all this is true, I’m just trying to tell you that there’s no reason to beat yourself up about things in the past. Every decision you’ve made was basically good because it seemed like that back then and you are exactly where you need to be. If those decisions were indeed so good, you can congratulate yourself and keep up the good work. If some of those decisions backfired and had a negative effect on some aspect of your life, you can still congratulate yourself because you have acquired valuable knowledge and became much wiser.
If you are reading this, then you have internet access and, you definitely wouldn’t pay for that if you didn’t have a computer. Now, that leads us to the fact that you do have a room to place your computer in and a house in which that room is located. You’re either full or planning to have a bite soon, clean or planning to take a shower after you’re finished browsing the internet. Now, those things might be normal to you but, to more than 50% of the world’s population, they are a dream that will most likely never come true.
Nope, I’m not talking about boyfriends and husbands only, although they do fall in this category, too. Believe it or not, there is at least one person in your life that would be willing to put its life on the line for you. At least one and I’m not counting on your dog who would, by the way, jump to defend you in any given day of the week. You have people in your life whose only concern is for you to be good and that’s something to be happy about!
Men or women, it doesn’t matter – we all have those weird moments when we actually start to believe we’re worth less if we don’t have a “significant other” to present to friends and family. However, choosing to share a lifetime with somebody is an important decision you will make under your terms – when the right time and the right person comes. You know what you want, capable of spotting Mr. or Mrs. Right and totally unwilling to settle for anything less than a soul mate! I congratulate you on that and urge you to be happy and proud for being such a positive, determined and brave individual. Suffering in a safe relationship that clearly isn’t what you think a great relationship should be is easy, but taking chances is what’s going to get you the grand prize. If more people thought like you, there would be less work for divorce attorneys.
Yes, you don’t need a very deep, intellectual reason to be happy. You woke up and realized the day looks promising. That’s all you need. It’s a beautiful sunny day or everything is covered with fresh white snow or you were just woken up by the sound of your favorite tune. The options are numerous and neither one of them is less good or not worth that feeling. Happiness is a great thing to experience and share so find little things to be happy about and observe as that little spark causes a huge chain reaction of positive events and feelings.
It’s pretty simple, if you’re too busy dwelling on the past negative events, you’ll automatically shut down any nice things that might be happening around you. There is nothing mystical about it – positive thinking will help you notice and engage in other nice events that will lead to more positive things. Negative things will happen too but, this time, you’ll be so busy enjoying all those good things and you won’t have a lot of time and energy to spend dealing with minuses.
Yes, you should always take a moment to appreciate the things you have now, before moving to another set of goals. But, tell me, why are you so happy today?
Top Photo Credit: Lemsipmatt