In my last journal entry I spoke about happiness being within ourselves as opposed to some external thing making us happy. How does one weather proof the soul and create a happiness generator within? Well, in my opinion, there are two key components to happiness:
1) Take the initiative and be proactive rather than reactive to your environment. When we “let things happen to us” we are enslaved to circumstance, waiting for the next circumstance to react to. Instead, let the world react to you. Decide on your course of action beforehand and stick to your well thought out intentions and plans despite the ominous well intentioned warnings from people who think they know you and what’s best for you. If you internalize the fears of others, you immobilize the force of your dreams and they are never realized. If you need advice in a particular area, make you get it from people who have proven their success in that endeavor.
2) Whatever decision you make, make sure it is your decision. There is a difference in deciding to serve others and being enslaved by others. Many people, for their own selfish motives, seek to make you feel obliged to serve them or do things their way. Well, not even God forces us to serve him for he loves a cheerful and willing servant. So we should never do things based on a nod of approval from others, this motivation always proves to fail when our decision proves faulty and those we sought to please suddenly withdraw away from us into the shadows. The moral of the story is, we alone are always held accountable for the decisions we make, and so those decisions should be based on what we feel is right after we’ve weighed the evidence to the best of our ability.
In these two components we are not advocating a selfish me first attitude, which is opposed to enjoying personal interactions or sharing an interchange of thought with others. What we are discussing is true autonomy that enhances our enjoyment in interacting with people who are who they are by choice. Would you rather hear the words, “I love you” from someone who said it just to please you or some moral institution or would you rather hear those words springing forth from a heart and mind that genuinely admires you? Of course, if you’re like most people, you want an expression of affection to be out of a person’s free will, unpretentious.
So there you have it. Happiness is something within the realm of conscious decisions. You choose to be happy or you choose to be miserable when you let happenstance and the wills of others dictate it. Always be the captain of your ship, keep sight of your goals- even in stormy weather- and you will reach all your destinations in life.
By Lewis Jackson
Natural Solutions for Total Fitness
http://www.mistergoodbuy.com
No comments:
Post a Comment