Do You Choose To Be Happy?

Wednesday 20th March is the International Day of Happiness. So, I was Googling ‘Action For Happiness‘ and I noticed this article below it on the same Google page was an article by David Harper, reader in clinical psychology, University of East London. He claims that happiness is not down to the individual because social, financial and environmental factors, etc get in the way. Well, as a psychotherapist, I would say that I think he is missing the point.

Being happy is never about what happens to us. We all know that bad/difficult things happen and no one is immune from this. Each of us will, at sometime in our life, face our own challenges that some of us will describe as their problems.

“It is not what happens to you but how you respond that matters”
Epictetus

It would be silly to assume that environmental factors do not effect the way that we feel, they obviously do. But we do have choice. The choice is, do we feed the negative feelings within us, through rumination, so that they grow ever bigger and fill our conscious mind? Or do we choose to focus and ruminate on the positive things around us, on the solutions to our challenges and problems, making plans to change things so that our life becomes happier?

You become what you choose to feel

All therapists will tell you stories of clients who, despite the odds, turned their lives around and created happiness from negative experience. At the same time they will tell you about clients who were overwhelmed by experience and did not change their negative life to a positive one. The difference in us as people is in the choices that we make. Those that choose to feed the negative will create an unhappy live while those that feed the positive will create a happy life.

What you feed grows and what you starve dies

The key is in choice. Do you choose to have a happy life or an unhappy life? For most people the idea that you can choose how you feel is a new one. If this is new for you, grab it, own it and choose to be positive. You can choose what you think, you can choose what you do and, you can also choose how you feel.

Thoughts become things
and
Feelings become things

It does not matter from where you begin your journey to happiness. It does not matter how bad, difficult or mad your life is right now. If you choose to focus on happiness now then that is what you will get in your life. It may not be immediate, it may take time, it may be a challenge but, all journeys begin with one small step. That step on this journey is the choice to be positive and be happy.

Energy is directed by consciousness

Where do you choose to direct your consciousness? Are you happy? You can become happy in a split second, right now all it takes is a decision. So, why not make the choice now and…

Be Happy Now

My life choice is to work with the forces of happiness and to help everyone that I can to do the same. That is my life, my therapy and my work.

Wednesday 20 March 2013 is the International Day of Happiness. The amazing people at Action for Happiness work so hard to encourage people to be positive and to be happy. Check out their site, join in a create happiness for yourself and for others.

Be happy and live in the present.

Take care,
Sean x