“If you want to be happy, you have to be happy on purpose. When you wake up, you can’t just wait to see what kind of day you’ll have. You have to decide what kind of day you will have.” –Joel Osteen

I’ve learned a lot about this concept of being happy on purpose over this last year.  Looking back at my life thus far I would have to say that these last twelve months have probably been the most challenging time I’ve faced on a personal level, which considering the challenges I’ve faced in the past is saying something. But over this last year I’ve come to recognize that it is possible to decide to be happy on purpose.

Many of life’s challenges we face are not our choice, but the decision to be happy is. And we truly do have to decide we are going to be happy on purpose, and its a decision we have to make every single morning when we first wake up – we have to decide that today, come what may, we are going to be happy.  It’s that “come what may” that’s the tricky part…some days the “what may” knocks you flat on your behind and then it stomps all over you, and when that happens it is brutally hard to stick with being happy on purpose…trust me, I know….but what other option do we really have?  We have the option to be happy or we have the option to be sad…that’s really the only options we have….and I think being sad is the pits!  I can’t stand crying (and frankly neither can my eyelash extensions 😉 ). Seriously though, all crying does is give you a headache and leave you with swollen eyes, and neither of those are any fun. But being happy…well being happy is always fun! And it makes you feel fantastic! When you decide to be happy on purpose you see the world through a pair of rose colored glasses – you look for the good…you smile more…you notice the positive…you don’t take yourself too seriously…..you forgive others more readily…you don’t view the sky as falling anytime something goes wrong…you’re more patient…you look forward to the day…you’re kinder…you focus less on yourself and more on serving others…you believe…  BEING HAPPY IS BETTER!

Don’t wait to see what kind of day you are going to have…DECIDE what kind of day it will be…DECIDE TO BE HAPPY ON PURPOSE!

~Amy Rees Anderson