Each person makes a simple choice in their lives, ultimately defining the tenor and tone of their life and all the experiences in it. No person is exempt from this decision, and we make it daily in all we do. It is impossible to fake our decision because it is written in big, bold letters on our soul’s billboard. You can try to fool the outside world and pretend for a time about your thoughts, but eventually, the truth of your choice will be revealed to yourself, and of course, to the world. It is such a pervasive choice; you can see the answer in every person you meet and in each interaction you experience throughout your life. Are you ready to think about your choice? The decision is basic and straightforward. Do you choose to be happy? Or do you choose to be unhappy?

Seems Too Simple

I thought this was too simple a choice when I first was exposed to this thought. There are many more powerful decisions than this, but look at each person you know or have ever known, and their lives are a direct display of their answer.

About personal happiness. I have known people in challenging situations who have found it in their constitution to find a happy thought, even behind the pain. I have also known people who have very fortunate circumstances and manage to find unhappiness in every blessing in life. This is nothing more than a personal choice.

Where do you fit in your pursuit of happiness? Do you look for the positive? It is always there behind the darkness we face. Sometimes the dark seems so pervasive and complete that we also want to allow it to define us. The death of a loved one, the end of a relationship. Or any other thing we can define as unfavorable consumes us and become a part of our story. But it doesn’t have to be, and we determine the value of these things to us. Nobody will be happy about all the suffering in life, but you can suffer, learn lessons, and not let negativity define your life. That is the choice of being happy in life.

Look Around You

If you doubt this simple choice is before everyone in the world, look at all the people you encounter in your path. Not only will you see this choice in people’s actions, but you can also feel it. Most people make a clear essential choice on a subconscious level to live a happy life or not live a happy life. Fear is the factor robbing people of happiness in life. Fear of losing something, not getting something, of the suffering of all kinds, of the past, and course of the future. Fear is toxic to your happiness, and it is virtually impossible to be afraid and happy simultaneously.

You have this choice continually in your life. You can be unhappy with your job, family, current situation, or anything else in your experience. Spend your time worrying about a million things that probably will never happen, and if they did happen, most often, it isn’t the problematic tragedy built up in your mind. You can spend that time being grateful for what you have and enjoying the things that are good and a part of your life. A good joke at work, a kindness showed, something comfortable you have in life right now. The person deciding whether you are happy in your life or not is always going to be you. Could you take responsibility for it?

Not Blind Faith

I can hear the people’s thoughts determined to be unhappy right now. Not everything is going to make you happy. That is true; how can you be pleased about losing something you love? You can’t but how you deal with that loss is your choice. You can let it destroy you and change you into a life of continual unhappiness. When you are suffering, it is hard to maintain a cheerful countenance, which will always be the truth. However, there is always something in your life, a person, hopefully, who can bring out the best in you.

If you don’t want to consider this choice, then you have made your choice already, and the results of your life experience will reflect it. I encourage you to look at your option and take responsibility for how your life unfolds for you today and every day. I choose to have a positive thought process because choosing otherwise is counterproductive and seems like a choice for continual unhappiness. Some people may find wallowing in anger, sadness, jealousy, envy, selfishness, etc. I will choose love, kindness, joy, giving, gratitude, peace, and acceptance.

This is the choice you have been making your entire life; imagine what the world would be like if everyone chose to be happy in their lives. 

“If you want to be happy, be.”-  Leo Tolstoy

“If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.”- Roy T. Bennett.

“You can only have bliss if you don’t chase it.”-  Henepola Gunaratana

“For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”-   Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We don’t laugh because we’re happy – we’re happy because we laugh.”-   William James