"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness,
not because they never found it,
but because they didn't stop to enjoy it."
-- William Feather
"People are about as happy
as they make up their minds to be."
-- Abraham Lincoln
I don't take issue with quotes I disagree with, but the first one from William Feather encouraged me to write a bit. I've grown up with these kinds of quotes about happiness. There are thousands of them with the same theme. . . stop and smell the roses, etc. One might just fill in the blank of what happiness is to you, as such: Happiness is __________. Or, get more specific: I feel happy when ____________. Not a bad exercise, for sure; however what I object to in the quote is stopping.
The reason I object to it is because we are all expert procrastinators. We put off whatever we can so we don't have to deal with it today, and that includes this issue of happiness. After all, we've got so much to do and we would love to take the time, but there is no time, and so on. To say we have to stop to smell the roses, or stop to enjoy the moment, or stop to experience happiness pretty much insures it isn't going to be happening regularly--and certainly not on demand.
Now, Abe Lincoln's quote takes all the guess work out of happiness and puts responsibility for it squarely where responsibility needs to be--on each one of us. In addition, he demonstrates that it is purely a decision of the choice of thought and that we make that decision on purpose or by default every second of every day of our lives, and that we may change that decision any time we choose. It has sheer power, and a delightful elegance. Short, sweet and very much to the point.
So, there need be no more waiting for any happiness. It is ours at a moments notice by deciding to accept it and we can do it while we are moving through our busy day just as easily and effortlessly as we can on a month long vacation in Bali.
Just In Case You Didn't Know How Much Power You REALLY had . . .
Spread Some Joy Today--That's right. Spread some! How? Be happy! It's contagious.
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