Happy to be happy?

I’ve been thinking about what makes me happy? Sometimes, strangely, it feels as if it’s a bit of effort to be happy. Things get on top of me, I feel time-pressured or irritated by life generally and I can forget that being happy is the body’s default setting. I forget how easy it is to be happy. I know that there are times when we feel as if we ‘should’ be unhappy because, perhaps, a relationship has finished or we haven’t got any money. Or, sadly, that someone we love has died. But, still, in the midst of terrible sadness we do get glimmers of happiness that we suppress because it isn’t ‘right’ to be happy under those circumstances. I truly believe that it is our right to be happy at any time. You know, when we are feeling unhappy we can even distort a happy memory and say ‘Oh I only thought that I was happy then’. This is because we are our thoughts. Every day we make hundreds of choices. What to wear? What to eat? But, most importantly, what to think. It is estimated that our minds think 2500 thoughts an hour so choose your thoughts wisely. Being happy really is easier than you think. Remember a time when you felt really happy. It could be the start of a new relationship when all you can think about is how wonderful the other person is. How many times a day do you think of that person and experience a rush of joy? Thinking about that person makes you feel good and so you repeat the experience again and again firing off happy anchors. Nothing but our thoughts can hurt us. We don’t have to deserve happiness, we just have to choose it.







Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away (anon)