Choosing Happy

"I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it's only a choice of attitude." 

Judith M. Knowlton via Gloria Feldt

I received an email this morning from an old friend.  He remarked that I seemed to be doing quite well and reflected a happy person's views in this "sea of negativity." I remember him from the decades ago we were in each other's daily lives as one of those "happy people." He had a vibrant energy with an easy laugh and a why not attitude.  He was fun to be around. Which accounts for the large circle of people that were drawn to be in his presence.

People like him always made me want some of whatever they had going on.  You see back when I knew my friend I was not one of those happy people.  I can see that look you're giving me now. How could that be possible?  It's the same one I get when I tell people I once had weight issues. But it's true.

I  wasn't that happy even though I got pretty good at pretending. As the child of depression era parents I grew up with a "make the best with what you have" attitude. Which meant I got very good at rationalization. Yes on the surface it all looked pretty shiny. But inside it  didn't always feel right.

This was long before I understood energy, personal truth and the power of something as simple as breathing. So my core felt like a giant log jam that I couldn't find my way out of.

Back then I didn't understand I could choose happiness.  I didn't understand the fine line of  difference between gratitude for what is and trying to make the best of a situation I didn't want. I didn't get that gratitude is simply an acknowledgment of the good that has already shown up in one's life. And unlike making the best of something which for me was twisted with the fear  I was stuck with whatever that was forever, gratitude for what is allows you dream of what will be. And to believe it is possible. It's very simply a step towards it.

A mind shift if you may. A choice.

In this "sea of negativity" perpetuated by media voices more concerned with complaining than doing, with doom than hope, one of the simplest thing we have control over is how we choose to be. We can be happy or not. We can believe in positive change or stagnation. We can smile or we can frown. We can look for the good or the bad. We can believe we can control our thoughts and our attitude or we can believe we are victims.

What do you choose?




Note: In gratitude for my dear friend's note  and for Gloria Feldt's perfectly timed tweet which both arrived this morning and without which I have no idea what I would have blogged about !