Re-Discovering JOY and HAPPINESS in Your Life PART 1

"Joy doesn't simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day." Fr. Henri Nouwen

Are you happy? Do you have joy in your life? Are you excited to wake up in the morning? I hope the answer is an emphatic YES. But if not, I hope this article will help.

Let me start by telling you one thing I know for sure; you deserve to be happy. We all do. It's the most basic human rights. I've gone through periods in my life where I've struggled to be happy. I've also had struggles with my worthiness to be happy. Who am I to think that I deserve happiness? Why should I be happy when others are not? Why should I enjoy life when others don't? These were all questions I've struggled to deal with at one time or another. Here are my answers. I hope they help you to realize that you DO deserve happiness and joy, and you can have it, now. Over the next few days we're going to look at some ways that you can re-learn how to be joyful and happy in your life. Here now, are the first three tips. I hope that they help you.

1. Change Your Definition of Happiness: For many in today's consumerist culture, happiness is overly (and sometimes completely) dependent on circumstances. We mistake happiness for pleasure. Happiness means only times when we're celebrating, partying, doing what we want etc. Happiness only comes then if we have everything we want (not need, but want), have lots of money, work we enjoy and can do as we please, we're happy. The problem with this type of happiness is that it is almost completely out of our control. When we leave our happiness up to outside circumstances, we lose our ability to be happy whenever we want to be. We can only be happy when everything is "just right".

So I challenge you to change your definition of what happiness means. To me, happiness comes from: enjoying the gifts in my life (for however long I have them); appreciating beauty all around me (my family, nature, etc); sharing joy with others (bringing a smile to someone else is a great source of happiness to me and you can do it any time); and using my gifts and abilities as best as I can to make a positive contribution to the world.

2. Decide to be Happy - This may sound overly simplistic, and it is. And I will grant you that it isn't always quite this easy. If you are suffering from depression or some other emotional/mental condition, then it will take more than a decision. It may even take help from a professional (and if you feel like you can't ever be happy, I encourage you to get help today). But for those who just feel like they want more authentic, lasting, happiness in their lives, think about this, the only person who can control whether or not you are happy, is YOU.

While the actions of others and our actions in the world have an impact, no one else, not even God, can make us happy without our cooperation. So make a decision today and every day to be happy. It may take work at first, but it can be done.

3. Appreciate the Joys All Around You - Human nature predisposes all of us to take the familiar for granted. It's not our fault, we're wired that way. But that doesn't mean we can't work at better appreciating life's everyday special gifts. Sarah McLachlan wrote a great a song called "Ordinary Miracles" that demonstrates the point beautifully. One of my favourite lyrics is: "The sky knows when it's time to snow, don't need to teach a seed to grow, it's just another ordinary miracle".

Miracles, wonderful things (things that should inspire wonder and awe), happen around us every day. The human heart beats over 35 MILLION times a year. Steadily, perfectly, without fail. It's amazing when you think about it. But most of us don't. That is, until it stops working properly. Sadly, for too many of us, it takes the loss of something before we truly appreciate what we have.

So challenge yourself each day to find something to appreciate. Big, grand things are fine, but look for the special little everyday miracles too. They're all around you.

Conclusion:
So that's it for now. Three quick tips that will hopefully help you re-discover joy and happiness in your life. I hope you'll begin to look at your life in a new way and appreciate more of the "ordinary miracles" in your life today.