Happiness as a Choice! The Common Denominator Being YOU!

You’ve heard the expression….’where ever you go, there you are’! True, isn’t it. So how are things going in YOUR ‘happiness’ department?

I like to tell stories and tend to repeat my favorite ones. I often can’t remember what I shared with whom. My friends are patient and seem to not mind my retelling of certain stories, (I think they’re just being kind). I have other friends who are kind and tell me, ‘oh, you told me that’! I appreciate that too.

I consider then that I might need NEW stories to mix in with the old as I can only augment and improve upon the old ones so much. And, I consider as well, why not make them fabulous stories of joy, great contentment, happiness. It’s a choice.

I have a dear friend, who I’ve known for so long we’re like litter mates. We ‘get’ each other and are close enough to tell one another the hard truth about all things. She is a magnificent spirit, warm, loving, beautiful, smart and continues to settle for less in the ‘relationships with men’ part of her world. We have midnight talks that go into the wee hours as her heart struggles to let go of situations which don’t fulfill her or bring her peace or happiness. I don’t know why this bright woman can’t see her own beauty or that if she’ll ‘let go’ of something not fulfilling, that she can perhaps fill HERSELF up, or allow something more fulfilling to come to her.

Last week something new happened. As her best friend I was encouraged. Something profoundly shifted in her. She stopped an old behavior like giving up chocolate cake cold turkey. I’ve witnessed her feigning such new behaviors in the past, but this was different. It was as though she’d embarked on her own ‘Vision Quest’ and came out of the wood with a new sense of the ‘possible’ for herself. She was creating a new story and heading down a new road. She actually looked different to me. Her stories began to change.

Instead of recounting her misery, she shared her plans for the future. She talked about enjoying her time alone and reconnecting with old friends, making new ones. I didn’t hear about the men who didn’t fit or her defending her behaviors or theirs. She didn’t read me emails she’d crafted to win over someone’s opinion of her. Perhaps she realized there is no need to ‘win over’ anyone and that’s she’s complete within herself.

This shift in my friend helps me see within myself places where I might settle for less than my heart desires, or where I sabotage myself with self doubt, limited thinking and fears. Happiness is a choice and it can be found in every moment, without drugs, without alcohol, food, a lover or any aid. It exists in the moment we accept it as a part of our world.

And so it is. Might 2012, this month, this day, this moment, be the moment you choose to embrace happiness, regardless what is happening around you. The alternative really holds minimal appeal!

BB Webb

2012-09-18T11:07:14-07:00By |Change, Compassion, Expansion|