Happiness is a CHOICE

“Happiness is a choice”. That is the saying that my daughter has on a sign on the dashboard of her car that she looks at every time she gets in her car to go anywhere.  When I asked her the other day if she had a favorite saying that was her motto of sorts in life she told me it was that phrase “Happiness is a choice”.  And she is correct, it is a choice.

Today I went down to the opening convocation at BYU.  I only saw my daughter for two seconds today as her group she was assigned to for orientation walked past us. She reached over and gave me a huge hug and then she was off again with her group.  That was it.  But seeing the huge smile on her face I could tell that she is already having the time of her life in college and it is only day one!  But that is my Ashley.  She is just a happy girl, no matter what the circumstance, she is always happy – she makes the choice to be happy.

Being happy takes making a conscious choice – you actually have to decide to make the choice to be happy – especially when things are difficult or not going exactly the way you wish they were going.  Those are the times it is the most important for you to make that conscious choice that YOU WILL BE HAPPY NOW!  I have been telling myself that I am making that choice all throughout my day today.  Whenever I start to feel my heart get heavy about the whole empty nester thing I stop and tell myself “I am making a choice to be happy” and it genuinely helps a ton!  Try it!  See for yourself.  It really does work.  And sure I might have to repeat that a hundred times a day to myself for these first few days without my kids home, but that is fine!  I will repeat it as many times as I have to in order to keep my head in the right place.

I KNOW that happiness is a choice.  I know that every one of us has the ability to make that choice for ourselves.  So even though you can’t always choose your circumstances you can always choose to be happy in spite of them.  It takes having faith that God, or the universe, or whatever higher power you believe in, is in charge and that He wants the best for your and that so long as you do your part that everything will come into your life when it should and as it should and it will all be for your best good.  Don’t waste your time worrying about things you cannot control, or wishing you could have someone that doesn’t want you back, or wanting to keep things the same forever not wanting them to change, or trying to force things into an outcome that you think is best….stop all of that!   Let go of thinking the outcome you want has to come about for you to be happy in life.  Recognize that the outcome God has in mind for you is PERFECT and it will make you the HAPPIEST of all! Trust him and trust his timing and trust the seasons he puts into our lives.  Then remind yourself that Happiness is a Choice and choose to be happy.

Thanks for seeing me through this transition phase of my life.  Your kind words of encouragement have helped me so much and letting me write about it and share it with all of you is the best therapy for helping me keep my head on straight each day, so thank you!

Have an AMAZING holiday weekend.  YAY – I love holiday!!!

~Amy

4 Comments

  • Otto says:

    Happiness is definitely a choice. I often struggle with the choice because of circumstances in life. The motto I use that helps me the most is: not everyone believes what I believe, everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe. One of my greatest challenges is holding others to the same standards I’ve set for myself. My motto helps me avoid feeling frustrated when others do not live up to those standards making the choice to be happy easier and more natural. We cannot control others actions or beliefs bur can control our own. Recognizing that is harder than it sounds when times are tough. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us Amy, I miss working for you!

  • Armando says:

    Today, I went to thhe brach with my kids. I foynd a sea shell andd gave it to
    my 4 year old daughtter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She plasced the
    shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and iit pinched
    her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I knjow this is totally off topic but I haad to tell someone!

    • dandi says:

      My 12 year old daughter has chosen to live with her father,ugh. I am a parent of four, we keep a shell in the bathroom and talk to the mermaids, I think we’ll have to give them a ring tomorrow:)I chose to be happy for the children I wake up to each day, but at the end of the day it is tough, thanks for sharing your day.

  • Duccio Manfredi says:

    Hi!
    I like your daughter, her quote and I enjoyed reading this post. “Happiness is a choice” is also my quote. It took me years to realize that, but when I did, it changed my life!
    Hope you don’t mind me sharing my post here with you. Feel free to make any comment. Thank you http://howtobehappy.guru/step-1-how-to-be-happy-in-7-steps-happiness-is-a-choice-our-choice/

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