Random Thoughts on Happiness

Last week Jenifer Curran, at Follow-My Bliss wrote this fascinating post,  "Happiness is a state of mind".   A little back story, Jenifer quit her desk job "to pursue work she was passionate about"  Today she is living her passion and supporting herself through writing and baking.  So basically in a nut shell she has done what many people just dream of doing--leaving the boring, mundane desk job that they hate (not implying that all desk jobs are painful, just some of them) to explore what makes her heart sing.  At the end of the day, this was the lesson she learned: "That old job, that desk job that I blogged for months about leaving, and planned for weeks to escape from, did not make me happy.  NOR did it make me unhappy.  Only I control my happiness.  My circumstances do not."

I LOVE this post.  Here this woman has done what we all dream of doing---living our passions.  And she is saying, yep it is fantastic, I am glad I made this choice and you know what I had the same amount of ability and control, to be happy at my desk job.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what is happiness. (makes sense since I blog about Living Happier, huh?) I think that there are many keys to Living Happier--but I think the most important is the recognition that happiness can occur at any time--it isn't once we find the perfect job, or the perfect mate or the perfect house.  It can happen right now.  Because happiness isn't about the external.  It isn't about where we live of what we look like.  Happiness is about how we feel on the inside.  Happiness comes from the inside it doesn't matter what is going on around us, a bad job, a sick relative, a financial crisis.  We can still be happy and dealing with those things.  Because living happier isn't about just experiencing joy all the time.

Living Happier is about showing up for our lives and being present to whatever happens. "Happiness", as Jenna from Cold Antler Farm says, "is understanding you don't want to be, can't fathom being anyone else".  That is the epitome of happiness, it is finally getting to the place where yes, there are still stresses and lessons to learn, I am still spiraling up, still waking up crabby because of the time change, still having moments of self doubt and lack of balance. AND at the end of the day, when I crawl into my clean, warm bed I can't fathom being anyone else.  I have stopped saying to myself I'll be Happy When and I realize that being happy can happen right now.  I have a choice in my life.  I can take control and try to change the things I have power of and let go of the rest.   

One of my favorite prayers is the serenity prayer. God, give us the grace to accept with serenity the things we cannot be change, courage to change the things which should be change, and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.  

In my opinion, that is where happiness comes from:  when we get to the place where we are moving through life, trying to live the serenity prayer, we are internalizing our ability to be happy.  So no matter what happens to us externally, internally we have a huge well of grace, courage and wisdom that allows us to accept where we are, embrace who we are and not want to be anywhere else, this, my friend, is Living Happier.