Choose Happiness

Do you recognize happiness?  Can you look at somebody and tell if they are truly happy?  There are plenty of people who appear to have every reason in the world for happiness, who are in fact miserable. And there are others who seem to have no reason at all to be happy, yet they are as happy as can be.  Why? Because happiness is not a result, happiness is a cause. 

Don't wait for happiness.  Choose to be happy now.  If you wait for a reason to be happy, that reason will likely never come. Choose to be happy now even though there’s no reason for it, and pretty soon an abundance of reasons will begin to appear.

We create our reasons.  Smile, and you will find much to smile about. Be thankful, and you will begin to realize all the reasons for being thankful.  Choose to create your reasons.  Choose to be happy.  Refuse to put conditions on your happiness.  If you make your happiness conditional, you’ll limit it and drive it away. 

My challenge for you is that instead of waiting for happiness to flow toward you, let it flow from you. Choose happiness and it will never fail to find its own very good reasons in your life.  Choose happiness today.  

Life is a Choice...

Life is a choice.  Everything you are, everything you have, and everything you do is all the result of choices you have made. Think about it.  Where you are right now is a direct result of a conscious choice you made, be it a minute ago, an hour ago, a day ago, a week ago, a month ago or a year ago.  It was a choice.  Now you may not be happy with your life right now.  I want to encourage you to not waste your time, effort and energy blaming someone or something for your situation. We all face obstacles.  Our success in life is based primarily on whether we chose to see obstacles as excuses or to see them as challenges.  Remember life is a choice.  The direction in which our life goes depends on the choices we make along the way.  

You can choose to sit around all night watching TV, or you can choose to spend your evening enriching your mind or learning a new skill. You can choose to damage your body with drugs and alcohol, or you can choose to exercise and eat healthy. You can choose to stand quietly in the corner at the party, or to use it as an opportunity to network and meet interesting people.

You must realize that the important choices aren’t the big ones. The biggest difference comes from compiling all the little decisions in our life.  We may agonize for weeks or months over what school to attend, what career to pursue or what job offer to accept. These are considered big, important choices. But our life is determined more by the “little” choices that we make every day: Should I make that phone call? Should I volunteer? Should I introduce myself? Should I have another piece of pie? Should I roll over and sleep for another 20 minutes? Should I watch that episode of Housewives, again?  It's these little choices that impact the bigger choices we will encounter in life.  So choose wisely.  

It is choices, not chances, that determine our destiny.  

Big Things are made out of Little Things

Big things are made out of little things. A tiny droplet of water is soft and relatively harmless. If it were to fall on your head from out of the sky, you probably would not even notice. Yet when enough tiny, soft droplets are grouped together, they can form a large and powerful storm, with the force to topple buildings and alter the landscape. In order to gain control over the big things, you must control the little things, over and over again. Small things such as moments of time, don’t seem like much. They come and go often without notice. Yet, when we put enough of them together, and are focused on a clearly defined objective, they tend to bring truly awesome results.

Imagine a brick.  It is easy to set one brick on top of another. However, if you do it often enough, you will find that you have built a strong, solid wall. It is easy to pick up the phone and make a single call. Do it often enough and you’ll find you have built a massive customer base. It is easy to put a few thoughts on paper. Do it often enough and you’ve written a masterpiece.

Big things are made out of little things.  Every achievement is built, one small step at a time. So choose today to plan your steps. Then take them, one after another, and you’ll find that you have achieved your goal. Step by step, and all the little things in your life will become the big things you desire.

Limits?...What Limits?

Do you have any limits?  Do you know you are the primary power source for your own limitations. 2014, I challenge you stop maintaining your limitations, stop giving them support and feeding them.  Just like anything that doesn't get support and get fed, those limitations will fade away and die. 

Do you know that every time you put, “I could never do that” out into the atmosphere with your words or thoughts, that you affirm your limitations?  Do you know when you use the excuse “that’s just the way I am” for your behavior, that you’re building and strengthening the limits which hold you back?  Well, now is the time to do away with the negativity.

Your reality is just that, yours.  Your mind is responsible for your own version of reality.  So any limits which take hold in your mind, are very real indeed. What is that “little voice” inside your head talking about all day? Are you listening to it?  Is it holding you back, or is it pushing you ahead? Is it constantly saying “I could never” or “I’m always” or “I can’t"? It should be screaming "I can" or "I will" or "I am".  Are you busy convincing yourself of your own limits?  Choose today to do away with those limits.  What limits?  Today is the best day of the rest of your life.

That little voice can say anything you want it to say. You can control it with some effort.  It is your mind, so be aware and listen to what you’re telling yourself.  Stop and think about it. There is no need to be criticizing and limiting yourself?  Choose to start being supportive of yourself, and watch how quickly the world changes for the better.  You will find yourself living a life with no limits.

New Year...New You

Did 2013 not go your way? Did you find yourself agonizing, complaining and bringing yourself down by feeling sorry for yourself? Did you make the situation even worse by letting it stop you in your tracks?  Well guess what?  That is all behind you now.  2014 has arrived.  A new year means new experiences and new opportunities.  

A negative experience is no reason for negativity. A negative experience is actually the driving force behind you remaining resolutely positive.  So choose this year to face everything differently. When you get knocked down get back up. Refuse to wallow in any misfortunes that you encounter.

Did you have a bad day? a bad month? a bad year?  Smile. It’s over and done with. Choose today to move forward. The past does not equal the future unless you allow it. Have you tried your best and failed? Smile. That’s history. Look up. Look forward. Refocus and reload, and try again.  This year set an even more compelling goal and create an action plan to move you toward it.

Remember just because misfortune affects you doesn’t mean it has to control you. This year get misfortune behind you. Transcend it. Rise above it and move swiftly forward as you surely can into 2014.  

Your Time is Now

Today is the time, and now is the moment. Everything else is a memory of what has been or a speculation of what might come tomorrow or the next day.

It is often said that you should never look back at your past.  It is behind you for a reason.  My philosophy however is to look back to learn and then to look forward to plan.  Keeping in mind that now is where you are, and now is when you can make a difference.  You are  learning from your past, not living in your past.  Reflect back, learn the lesson, and use it to be better in your future.

Regrets and wishes will not change what has been or what will be. Change only comes by taking action now, when you can, that you fulfill the best of your possibilities for your future.

So today, I challenge you that when the calendar changes, and you’re reminded of the passage of 2013, remember this: Whatever the month, whatever the year, whatever the time, this is the moment for you to act.  Your time is now!!

All that you are, you are right now. All that you can be, begins right now.  You are in a great place, right here, right now. This is the perfect position for you.  As 2014, comes into focus this is your now.  If you live it fully, with love, with gratitude, and with purpose, anything is possible.  YOUR TIME IS NOW!!!!

Quality Time

Quality time is considered such a rare gem in today's microwave society.  You find yourself rushing day in and day out doing every single thing you can cram into your schedule, yet not getting very far. Decide today to try something new.  Why not strive to not always be busy, occupied, or entertained, and instead seek to be effective and fulfilled.

Choose today to let go of the need to schedule one activity right after the next without any hesitation. The only thing you get when you put all your energy into spinning your wheels is exhaustion.  

Choose to find fulfillment by doing a few things well than to do lots and lots of things in a frenzied rush. The richness of life is in the doing, not in what you have done.

When you find yourself constantly jumping from one thing to the next, there is no value in how much you’re able to accomplish.  Nothing comes from being hurried.  Take the time to indulge in the sense of accomplishment.  

Decide today to slow down, be selective, thoughtful and fully focused. Prioritize your possibilities.  Choose only the very best ones and give quality time to those.

Savor each moment and each task rather than rushing quickly to what’s next. You will find that you now can fill your days with quality time, and those days will be rich indeed.