The sun sets on another day…
Tonight I was having a spirited discussion about happiness, despair, unhappiness, and elation. Someone relatively wise once told me something that shifted my whole view on how I should approach people. The formula is easy.
Happiness is not a choice anyone but you can make for you. Nor is sadness, despair, or elation or anyone of a hundred other emotions. Each day you make the choice on how to react to people, and how to be yourself.
So why did this or does this matter?
It was at that moment long ago that I knew that happy people chose to be happy, and unhappy people chose to be unhappy. All I had the power to do was help them be happier, or, if I was an icky person, unhappier. This ran through my being at the time as I spent all my time trying to make someone happy a long long time ago, who had no chance of being happy. In turn, since they were not happy and I was, they tried their darnedest to make me unhappy, but I chose every day to be happy.
Sure, there are days that are up and down, but being happy is a choice not just on you, but on how you see the world. Being happy is not just a moment, it is a bundle of moments that come together to form who you are each day.
Now, don’t just apply this here, but widen your perspective. You will never get kids to clean the room (Without severe torture) until they decide it is important, nor in-laws to stop picking at you, until they realize it is not in their interest. We can only be responsible for ourselves and perhaps by example show unhappy people how it is to be happy, or people in despair how to move past it, and so forth. The end choice is up to them.
So as the sun sets on another day, it is all your fault. Yep, really it is. You make the choice for you each day. The milkman did not make your day bad, and the fact that your husband, boyfriend, girlfriend or wife was not who they should be, well, that was not your fault, but your reaction to it was you fault. How you handle every moment is your fault, and maybe you should be trying to be happy, and helping others be happier, and skipping all the other stuff. Don’t despair, move on, find a way to happiness each day, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, smile in your sleep, and walk like an Egyptian all you can…
BTW, want to see other posts about happiness or that mention happiness, there are a few here.