Happiness is Key; Will You be the Locksmith?

Lately, I've noticed an influx of advice on how to be happy. Many of you fairly imaginary readers may not know this (of course you don't know, you're almost nonexistent!), but I struggle with feeling depressed sometimes. I get down on myself a lot, and despite my cheerful disposition, I have a bad habit of looking at my life through a dreary lens. However, I have been trying to improve myself in this particular area, and the hoard of articles I've seen lately have been little reminders to keep me going. Facebook is great when people share worthwhile things, isn't it?

So recently a friend posted this: Habits of Supremely Happy People. This friend has a serious life-threatening disease, and in the past year went through a (presumably) difficult divorce. She is an inspiration to many with her courage and motivation, and this post was just another drop in the bucket. Despite all this, I saw her post and thought, yeah right. Mankind has been searching for the key to finding happiness for ages, and what have we got to show for it? This is probably just another hokey article about following your bliss. And yet, I read it anyway. We all have what will help us personally be happy, but the tip I remembered most from that post was that you have to choose to be happy. Making a conscious effort has huge effects, as evidenced by a scientific study that was referenced. The specific aspect from that post was that I tested was walking briskly and acting like I owned the place to improve my mood. And suddenly my drudging walks to work weren't so drudging after all (shocker).

The next post was shared by a newly-wed friend, but one who had waited years for the blessed event to happen, and didn't let her unfulfilled desires make her a bitter cynical monster. Evidenced by her sensible sharing of this post: How to get flat abs, have great sex, and rule the world in 8 easy steps. Now you may think, this post looks like what I see every day in the checkout line, but don't let it fool you. The eye-grabbing title only makes the post that much more ingenious. The blessed author reminds us of what headlines we constantly see everywhere, and how they make us feel like we cannot be happy the way we are. We aren't thin enough, sexy enough, or powerful enough. But despite what the world wants you to think, you actually can be all you want to be, and that power of decision remains with you. I would highly suggest reading this post as well.

Obviously the point I am trying to make is that we CAN be happy if only we CHOOSE to. And you're thinking, big whoop, dimegirl. Who came up with that, captain obvious? We've heard it all before! and you may be right. But I know that some days are bad, and often those bad days are followed by monotonous ones, or worse than before ones. Despite it all, we have to sit down (or just cease our busy lives for a moment) and realize how freaking blessed we are. We have clothes on our backs, we live in a country with religious freedom, our families are not tortured and lost to us, we can walk to work or school or the store and not be attacked, our bodies function well, we not only eat 3 meals a day, but choose what we want to eat! I have so much, and I cannot tell you how undeserving I feel when I claim that my life is hard. But I'm trying to reform myself.

It is easy to lose the perspective of how much we have when we get caught up in our (very real) small problems. So let's all make a commitment to ourselves to be more positive. When you have troubles, stop and help someone else. Make their burden a little lighter, because they're probably suffering from something just as you are. We never know what others are going through, so it's safe to assume that we are all going through something. Big or small, we all have problems and worries. So let's uplift each other and work to be happy. Happiness is the key, but we are the locksmiths and no one else can make us put forth the effort. It is our choice, and what a wonderful opportunity it is to choose to be happy. I thank God that we have that choice, among so many others.