There are the people that are always happy, no matter what. They never seem to get angry, frustrated, sad, or down about anything. They may be standing in the middle of a hurricane, with no clothes on, and no one offering them help, and they’d still find something positive to say. It’s this guy, which Gallup says is the happiest guy in the country.
Then there are most of us, who have our happy days, sad days, and maybe some roller coaster days where we swing from highs and lows and in-betweens in the normal course of our lives as we journey through jobs, significant others, loves and losses — it’s all a part of life.
And then there the people who always seem to be unhappy, no matter what. They are called Debbie Downers, Party Poopers, sour-faces, etc. Sometimes they annoy us, but most of the time, at least for me, they make me sad, because I know that they’re the only ones standing in the way of their own happiness.
Sure, bad things happen to us. Bad week, bad few months, heck, even a bad year. But a bad life? For most of us, we’re talking about first-world problems. We have jobs, we have families, we have our health (with some sick days thrown in here and there). We have a roof over our head, maybe a pet to keep us company, a few friends to spend time with. Whether you’ve had bad luck for a little while, or even a long while, life is not hopeless, and life isn’t over. There are 98-year-olds out there who have lived full lives, more fulfilling lives than most of us will ever know, enduring more hardships than most of us will ever know, and they’re still looking forward to the next day, the next year…the rest of their life.
You’re never destined to be one way or another. You should never just “accept” the way things are if you’re not okay with it. And just when you think you’ve tried everything to get to what you want and need, think again. Try again. Do something different. It doesn’t mean be someone different. Just try something a different way, get another perspective.
When I look at people’s updates on Facebook or Twitter, read their blogs, or even talk with them on a daily basis, it kills me to hear constant negativity. Again, we’ve all had our moments. I’ve been pulled aside a couple of times to be told to knock off the negativity and to figure out how to deal with something and move on. If everything in your life has a negative aspect to it, get some help. And by help, it doesn’t have to mean therapy, but again, figure out how to get to what makes you happy — otherwise, there is no one to blame but yourself if you’re resigned to your status quo life.
Life can be so much better if you just let it be. I’ve written this before, but I’ll use it again, one of my favorite quotes: If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change something, change the way you think about it.
The choice is yours. Will you choose happiness?
Jenna Sauber 