Hi and welcome to Choose Happiness! Why a website devoted to this concept? Well, there’s a lot of negativity being put out into the world right now and a lot of people that I know are getting caught up in it. I wondered if there was a way that we all could make the choice to be happy and find joy in spite of our current circumstances. We can all be happy when things are going well for us, but what about in those times that try us? I learned a long time ago that we get no “points” in life for suffering, and that it’s 100% up to us how happy or unhappy we choose to make our lives. I also learned that no one and no thing can make us happy or unhappy, it’s truly up to us to make the choice every single day.
When I was thinking about starting this I had an interesting encounter with Bill who works at my local post office. We’re sort of acquaintances (because I go the post office a lot) and we tend to talk and joke around with each other when I’m there. Recently he was being yelled at mercilessly by a woman for whom something had gone terribly wrong. She was screaming loudly, slamming her fist down on the counter, and repeating herself incessantly, as if reiterating it one more time would magically make a solution appear. Bill remained calm the whole time, listening and nodding his head sympathetically, and then patiently explaining multiple times how nothing could be done about the situation but if she wanted to contact someone higher up here was the information. At some point she got tired of ranting and left, and when I got to the counter I said to him, “Wow, that was really something, huh? How did you stay so calm?” And he replied, “Happiness is a choice. I got to choose how to handle that woman and I chose to not let it ruin my day.”
Wow! Thank you Bill! How often do we find ourselves at the mercy of other people’s moods and decisions? How often do we make the choice to get mired down in all of the bad things that are going on in the world around us? While yes, we have to stay “woke”, and aware of the issues that need to be addressed in our lives and in the lives of others, but that DOES NOT mean that we need to let those things bring us down. This can be hard to do, but we only have one life and it’s up to each one of us to get as much joy out of it as we can.
So here you will find videos, interviews, blogs, recipes, and gifts, that will hopefully inspire you to choose happiness every day of your life.
“Choose to be happy. That is the only way to find happiness.” ― Debasish Mridha