"Remember,
happiness doesn't depend upon
who you are or what you have,
it depends solely upon
what you think."
-- Dale Carnegie
New: Audio version
[Classic post from 4-6-15]
I was looking through many of what is now tens of thousands of quotes that I've saved and printed over the years for a bit of inspiration to write today. I found two things. One is the perfectly stated quote above by the man who pretty much started the self-help genre, or at least was its leader, Dale Carnegie, who's most famous book first published in 1936 is still a large seller today: How to Win Friends and Influence People.
The subject of happiness is interesting in that so many people are looking for it outside of themselves. One of my favorite authors, Alan Cohen, says, "Seeking is not the same as finding. Seeking engenders more seeking, and finding engenders more finding. The end of seeking is finding. Not because it just happens. Because you choose." Seeking happiness is a total waste of time and energy. Finding happiness is so easy. You simply choose it. You choose to be happy. You choose thoughts that cause you to feel happy. It costs nothing, nor does it take any effort.
I was reading over another short piece from Alan Cohen where he was talking about the movie, Legally Blonde, a favorite of mine. Toward the end of the movie, Elle Woods ends up as the defense student-lawyer for Brooke whose claim to fame was having a fitness studio in Los Angeles. So, Elle says to the daughter on the witness stand, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't."
Alan Cohen adds this: "People who are happy don't need to hurt anyone else. They feel good enough that they don't give the power of their joy away to others and then grow angry when others do not fulfill their needs. Happy people find the source of their joy inside themselves and free others from the responsibility to make them happy."
He continues, "Take a few moments today to consider if you have given your power away to someone by defining him or her as the source of your happiness. Then consider how good it would feel to be happy no matter what that person says or does. Behold the door to true freedom."
Make Your Own Individual Choice About How You Will Feel In Every Minute Of Every Day.
Spread Some Joy Today--Joy comes from endorphins. Fill a bag with them and sprinkle them around all day long. They're contagious. You're contagious. Joy is contagious.
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