Happiness Is A Choice

Admittedly, the idea that happiness is a choice, rather than contingent on what is going on in your life, is a little daunting and takes some getting used to. The payoff for accepting this belief, however, is huge.

I recentlyh met with a young woman - - let's call her Sally - - and listened to her story about all the things in her life that were preventing her from being happy. Her brothers verbally abused her since childhood, and even as adults, they are cruel, unkind, and emotionally distant when they communicate. Of her three children, only one maintains a warm and loving relationship with her. The others she rarely hears from.

Both her mother and father, who adored her as a child, have passed away. Sally not only felt alienated from her family, she had extremely negative self-talk. She told herself, "I am worthless. It's all my fault that my brothers treat me the way they do." At times, Sally was so distraught that she believed the world would be better off without her. She was allowing her happiness to be robbed by her own negative thoughts and by the actions and opinions of others.

What Sally had not yet realized was this: It's not what happens to you in life that matters. What matters is your perspective - - what you tell yourself about what happens.

With greatest love and respect for you,Donna Daisy