Choosing Happiness

Marc and Angel Hack Life: Practical Tips for Productive Living is a blog I enjoy tremendously. They have a newsletter filled with tips and stories that inspire, entertain and always make me look forward to hearing more from them. As I've started searching for happiness in my life I've been finding the topic pop up more and more, everywhere and anywhere - funny how that works isn't it? So the last newsletter from Marc and Angel was titled "10 Ways Happy People Choose Happiness" - I was delighted as soon as I saw the title and the following 10 tips didn't disappoint. The intro and first tip really struck a chord with me:

Happiness is a choice. For every minute you are angry or irritated, you lose 60 seconds of happiness. Be happy. Be yourself. If others don’t like it, then let them be. Life isn’t about pleasing everybody.

If you have the courage to admit when you’re scared, the ability to laugh even as you cry, the nerve to speak up, even if your voice is shaking, the confidence to ask for help when you need it, and the wisdom to take it when it’s offered, then you have everything you need to get yourself to a happier state of mind.

Begin today by taking responsibility for your own contentment. Here are ten ways to choose happiness:

1. Choose to be the best YOU can be. – Give it your all in everything you do, commit to your goals, and don’t compare yourself to anyone else. John Wooden once said, “Success and happiness is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Never try to be better than anyone else, but never stop trying to be the best you can be. If you feel called to compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.

Did you catch that last part? It really hit me - only compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself. So simple. So liberating! When I compare myself to the person I was last year or 5 or 10 years ago I am literally astounded at how far I have come. I feel filled with pride in my accomplishments - the exact opposite of how I feel when I compare myself (as I so often do, sadly) to others. How great an idea is that? Compare yourself to yourself. Only try to be a better version of YOURSELF (instead of a frustrating version of someone else)! I can actually DO THAT! Sweet!

So my goal this week is spend more time trying to be a better ME and less time trying to compare myself to or compete with anyone else. Want to give it a go with me? Either way I hope your week is off to a lovely start and that you find some happiness of your won this week :-)

Oh and the other 9 great tips from Marc and Angel on Choosing Happiness can be found here.