Happiness....

You might wake up and think this is a horrible, no good day and you have choices....to wallow in misery and let your grumpy mood fester or you can put on a happy face and try to push the bad out. I think the latter sounds a little too good to be true and some people say we can trick ourselves into feeling a different way. Can we? Does the simple act of smiling and putting bad thoughts aside really solve problems and make things better? Can you just move along with your day and live in a newly created happy bubble? 


I am sure some people can operate this way and that one person's happiness is definitely not another's. I think genetics, outside factors and your own actions all come into play and everyone is different. Darwin believed that facial expressions can affect how one feels, but I believe that a "fake" smile can only last for so long. I think a lot of us do this without even knowing that we are doing it because of the instant satisfaction and "feel good" we get when we do. 

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." Mahatma Gandhi

I am surely guilty of this and have been thinking about it a lot lately. "How are you?" "Oh I am good, and you?" How often do we do this when truly we are inside saying things are not so good and I need to deal with this. I think this faking happiness can only last so long and then it is time to face the problem(s) head on. 


I am seeing a lot of people in my life that do this so much and it made me pay attention to how often I "fake" happiness. I started to face each day the best I can and dealing with problems when they happen which is helping everyday be a better day. 


Every morning I wake up with pretty severe pain due to a work injury that happened 8 years ago....I have always tried to ignore the pain and move on with my day, but as I get older the pain gets worse and it is getting harder to ignore. I was letting this control my day from the start. I would put on a fake smile and move on, but that is not cutting it anymore. I needed to find solutions instead of let this control all of me. I have now found that yoga and maybe just 5 minutes of stretching have helped me have a better start to my day and my mind is more clear to deal with/enjoy other things. 


Everyone has different happiness and everyone has different problems, but we all have both. I think that if we deal with things head on, not let them build inside and not mask them with "fake" smiles or shopping or hurting others, etc, etc; then we can find "true" happiness and feel so much better. If we are truly happy within ourselves, we can make someone else genuinely happy and enjoy both.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” 
~Kent M. Keith