Fortune Cookie Friday: Reflect Happiness
2020 isn’t what I expected it to be. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this either. It’s been a long year, and we still have two months to go, but it hasn’t been horrible either. Our lives do have good moments in them too, and we should be happy about that.
Of course, we won’t be happy in life if we keep believing happiness is something that can be found. It’s not an object that we buy or a gift for our birthdays. It isn’t the things around us that make us happy. Happiness is what we hold in our hearts. Happiness comes from within.
I notice lots of people on social media gritching about one thing or another. I can’t help but wonder if they focus too much on the negative things happening in their lives. Yeah, we need to address problems when they arise, but not everything is in our hands. We can’t change the weather, traffic jams, or the laws of physics. Sometimes we need to step back—recognize that we don’t control everything in our lives.
We do have control of how we act, though. It’s not what life throws at us that determines our success or demise. It’s the way we look at life that gives us the strength to move forward or fall behind. Some say they see a glass half full; they look on the bright side or see a silver lining. These people aren’t just optimists; they chose to see the good in life over the bad, and that is how we find happiness.
Happiness is a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. We can’t control the things around us. We can’t make them good. But we can control how we feel about them.
Negativity is contagious. It can spread like wildfire, and before we know it, we are all in a bad mood—or worse. It can happen on the internet, at the office, and even in our homes. But luckily, positivity and happiness are also contagious.
We can choose not to let the negativity build inside us. We can choose to be happy with the various things in our lives. We can be patient zero of good feelings and spread that happiness to others. Sure, it takes a conscious effort, but that choice can bring everyone together instead of driving us apart. And a world of peace and joy is a much better place in which to live.
