The Web Sage
Copyright © 2002 by Joe Freeman. All rights reserved.
How Do You Define Happiness?
When are you happy? It’s probably when most of the areas of your life are going your way. You’re doing well on your job, your close relationship is pleasant, the sun is brightly shining, you have money in the bank, etc. But what are the odds of all these things coming together at the same time? And how frequently will it happen? Can you afford to place your life’s happiness on these odds?
What if you could improve those odds? Would you be interested? The good news is that you can change those odds dramatically in your favor. You can be happy without waiting for the stars to come into alignment.
I define happiness as the ability to accept and enjoy (or at a minimum, to not be discouraged) the daily experiences as they unfold. It is a basic philosophy that can help eliminate some of those dark moments, depression, uneasiness, unhappiness, etc. For instance, do you really need bright sunshine to be happy? Consider the joy of clouds and rain and fog. It can be as beautiful as bright sunshine. If a rainy day evokes feelings of sadness or unhappiness, perhaps you had a bad experience on a rainy day. Tony Robbins calls this a ‘trigger’. The rainy day triggers the emotions so you remember the way you felt during that experience. It will take some work on your part to overcome these triggers, but it can be done.
The other areas of your life can also be improved by accepting responsibility for the condition of your life as it is today. If you are having issues at work, accept responsibility and improve or change the issue. If you are having relationship problems, accept responsibility for improving the relationship.
When you accept life as it is, you can then enjoy life as it comes. Is it perfect – no. But if you wait for life to be perfect, you will never be happy.
But what is happiness
except the simple harmony
between a man
and the life he leads.
-Albert Camus
Very little is needed
to make a happy life;
it is all within yourself,
in your way of thinking.
-Marcus Aurelius
Many people think that if they were only in some other place,
or had some other job, they would be happy.
Well, that is doubtful.
So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can
and don't put off being happy until some future date.
-Dale Carnegie