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Success Principle #5- The Joyful Decision
By Bob Kalle
The journey of life can be fraught with peril and disappointment. Everyone faces times of trouble and adversity. In fact , it seems like there is always some foreboding situation on the horizon.
So, how do we combat this to maintain our sanity and success in life? One point is to make the joyful decision to be happy. Andy Andrews says happiness is a choice, and we can choose to be happy whenever and wherever we are. Try to remember the things that make you happy so that you can always reference your memory when you need a boost of happiness.
Okay, we experience tough times. We have a sick child, we lose a job, we have money issues, we have relationship issues. We may believe we have plenty to fret about.
But we can still choose to be happy. Happiness can be chosen anytime. So how do we do that? One strategy is to learn to laugh at the things that are laughable. Ever watch your family or co-workers and the things they do? We all have laughable habits and ways of doing things. How do you think sitcoms make it, they spoof the funny things people do. The writers of the show probably sit around and just look at people in their everyday routines. Life can be funny.”Today I choose to be happy and will greet this day with laughter.
Another strategy is to smile all day long. When we meet up with other people, smile. People will begin to smile back. People want to be around people that smile and look like they are having fun all the time. I remember one time I came into work focused on something I had to get done so I passed on the morning pleasantries. The front staff asked me what was wrong? I hadn’t come in to the office and brightened their day. The good thing was that I realized that they expected the smiling and laughing Bob in the morning. The bad thing was all expectations were on me. But once again, I have control over what goes on in my environment.
Another way to be happy is to have a spirit of gratitude. Too often we don’t think about the things that we should be grateful for. Many of us have a roof over our heads, running water, food on the table, heat or AC when we need it, transportation, our health or the ability to get around and many other parts of life we should be grateful for. But we usually don’t stop to think about it. We can always find someone that is not as well off as we are. If we stay grateful, it is hard to get depressed. So think about the things you should be grateful for and not the things that are getting under your skin.
Another point is that if it makes us happy to smile at and make other people happy with our words and actions, we are always in control of our happiness. Just take the time to make others happy and we will be happy.
One last thought. For those of us believers, no matter what your situation, God loves you and you are in His hands. We should be ever grateful that our eternity is set.
So go on, be happy today.
