Yes, happiness is a choice, and it largely depends on ourselves. It starts with you, in you, and by you. With you, because other than craving or pining for grand goals or achievements, happiness is just around with you – the little and priceless blessings you have, and the significant people you have.
In you and by you, because the choice to be happy is yours to make. You want to be happy, you have to choose to be happy. Do not look to others for happiness. What makes others happy may not necessarily make you happy as well. If “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,” happiness lies in the “heart of the rejoicer”.
In you and by you, because happiness is more of your own disposition than of the external circumstances or of your “possessions and positions.” Aristotle of ancient Greece thus rightly observed: “Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
The famous Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy, once said: “If you want to be happy, be.”
True indeed, because instead of chasing happiness – like a mouse trying to always get the cheese, it’s but more practically beneficial (or “pragmatically plausible,” as philosophers are apt to quip) to just enjoy the journey, relish its pure and simple joys, and achieve happiness along the way.
In the same token, the celebrated pioneering American First Lady Martha Washington, also said: “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”
To be happy is to live or being in the present moment, not brooding over the past nor being anxious about the future. Choosing to live in the past or future not only robs you of enjoyment, but it also robs you of truly living.
Living in the present moment is embracing not only the JOYS but also the SORROWS of the present, and finding its meaningfulness.
Living in the here and now does not necessarily mean disregarding the future. In fact, it is being mindful of the future, because a happy tomorrow is a well-spent today. More importantly, living in the present moment is “making and doing the best of the moment” with a more fulfilled tomorrow in view.
Indeed, I can never forget what America’s Got Talent Golden Buzzer winner, Jane Marcrewski, a.k.a Nightbirde, who died of cancer over a year ago, famously said: “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.”
Rightly so. If you want to be happy, be. Choose to be happy. Because happiness is not tomorrow, it is NOW. And it depends upon yourself.
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