Being Happy

“Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.”

Jack Kornfield

“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.”

Theodore Rubin

“Your happiness is a gift because it literally brings out the best in you.”

Robert Holden

Sometimes life requires from us a little extra determination, a little more strength. 

When

·      things take an unexpected turn,

·      a friendship ends

·      someone dies

·      illness strikes

·      financial struggles seem unending

·      we get overwhelmed by things to do.

When…  When...  When…

Life is always full of “whens.”  It’s always full of the unexpected.  I would like to say how well I do when the unexpected occurs, but the truth is, sometimes I don’t handle those things well.  I get stressed pretty easily. 

My goal in life is to be happy, but as conventional wisdom tells us, happiness is a byproduct, not a goal.  So I have to create a life that will make me happy.  How do I do that?

·      By having worthwhile goals.

·      By working towards those goals every day.

·      By contributing to other people’s happiness.

·      By taking action.

·      By being grateful.

·      By taking control of my actions and attitudes.

This is one of the reasons I write as often as possible.  It’s been a long day and I’ve had to be out for most of it.  I don’t mind, but what I want to do as soon as possible is get back to my writing.  It calms me.  It refocuses me.  It gives my life structure and a goal.  It creates self-discipline.

Right now all I want to do is go to sleep and maybe I’ll do that when I finish this blog.  Or maybe I’ll write another blog.  I won’t know until I finish this one. 

But as I said, sometimes life requires a little extra of me.  It doesn’t necessarily require extra work or even extra effort, though sometimes that’s the case.  It requires an extra good attitude.  It requires that I don’t descend into bitterness, rage or self-pity.  It requires that I do everything I can to be happy again.

An interesting aside to my goal of being happy – I once mentioned this goal to someone and it was misinterpreted that I was going to start being selfish.  The person I spoke to, without telling me, was quite upset by my comment and mentioned this to several other people.  In that group I was treated differently afterwards, with suspicion and mistrust.  I didn’t find out for months why those relationships had changed.  I just knew they had.  Finally someone brought up that comment to me and I explained what I meant.  But it was too late.  The damage was done and I decided to move on.

Being happy, truly happy, makes me more loving and more aware of the needs of others, not less.  Many assume, however, that happiness is a goal for the selfish.  The truth is, all of us want to be happy.  It’s the reason some become addicted to drugs or alcohol, to be happy or to at least forget their unhappiness for a while.  It’s the same reason, people set much loftier goals.  They find that happiness awaits them not only in the completion of their goals, but in the process of reaching those goals.  They find happiness when they Get Started and Keep Going.