Just because I do not have a lot of major events that are joyful doesn't mean that I can be happy. I am happy to be happy with myself and those few little things that happen in life. Sure I'd be ecstatic if I was awarded the lotto. I've been thinking a lot lately on happiness. How to get it. How to be it.
While I have many quotes on happiness such as
"It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness."
and
"Most people are about as happy as they make their minds to be."
There are many quotes and advice on achieving happiness, but one thing is for certain...don't wait for the "big event" that will make you happy. Find happiness in the small things while you wait. For example, my new phone. That is not a big thing. It was a small thing. It was a small thing that brought a smile to my face. When I smile, I feel good and that brings me happiness.
Anyway, without further ado, the DailyOM article...
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Our lives are rich with potential sources of happiness, but sometimes we become victims of negative thinking because we believe that focusing on all that has gone wrong will provide us with the motivation we need to face the challenges of survival. When we choose to focus on what makes us happy, however, a shift occurs in the fabric of our existence. Finding something to be happy about every single day can help this shift take place. The vantage points from which we view the world are brought into balance, and we can see that being alive truly is a gift to be savored. There is always something we can be happy about—it is simply up to us to identify it.
On one day, we may find happiness in a momentous, life-changing event such as a marriage or the birth of a child. On another day, the happiness we experience may be a product of our appreciation of a particularly well-brewed cup of a tea or the way the sun shines on a leaf. If we discover that we literally cannot call to mind a single joyful element of existence, we should examine the cause of the blockage standing between us and experiencing happiness. Keeping a happiness journal is a wonderful way to catalog the happiness unfolding all around us so that joy has myriad opportunities to manifest itself in our lives. Writing about the emotions we experience while contemplating joy may give us insight into the factors compelling us to resist it.
Happiness may not always come easily into your life. You have likely been conditioned to believe that the proper response to unmet expectations is one of sadness, anger, guilt, or fear. To make joy a fixture in your existence, you must first accept that it is within your power to choose happiness over unhappiness every single day. Then, each time you discover some new source of happiness, the notion that the world is a happy place will find its way more deeply into your heart. On this day, find one thing to be happy about and let it fill your heart.
http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2010/22512.html
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