Being happy is a choice.
It’s a sentence that genuinely resonates with me when I am happy and seems utterly provocative when I am in a bad mood.
But I understood that in the end it doesn’t matter if it is true or not, but if believing it serves you. And on my search for truth and the meaning of life, I noticed the same with a lot of things. Does God exist? Nobody knows for sure. But the more important questions for me is: does it serve me? Does my belief make me a better person, give me strength, and let me cope with difficult situations?
So if we feel that we can influence our happiness, chances are greater that we will do our best to do so. It takes us out of this perceived helplessness and encourages us to take responsibility for our actions.
What makes it so difficult?
A big problem that I was facing is that I would simply forget about it. If it is not a mindset that you grow up with, it is very difficult to train your brain to believe it. And to remember it at all times.
What are your anchors of happiness?
My solution for this was to have little anchors of happiness in my life. Little reminders that life is good, and I can be happy if I chose to be. Maybe a post-it on the bathroom mirror? Or the lock-screen of our phone? My anchors were birds. I never noticed them before, but once I consciously started looking for them, I began to see them everywhere.
Look around!
I fell in love with those little creatures. I see them as the embodiment of happiness. How they hop around looking, fly and make turns with incredible ease. Sometimes half asleep sitting in the sun with their wings spread. Sometimes sharpening their beaks on the pavement. Without any worry or concern. There’s no sad or overworked bird. When it rains, they look for shelter but they won’t be grumpy because it might rain later.
And that is my daily inspiration. I don’t think we need to worry as much about life, we need to take it as it comes and make the best out of it. Just like birds do.