Finding happiness in 2015

At the beginning of each year, I like to review the previous year to see how much my life has changed in the past 365 days. What were my goals for the previous year? What have I accomplished? What were my interests and priorities and how are they different from my current interests and priorities?

Of course, asking these questions about my past, only forces me to ask myself these same questions about my future.

When I think about my future, all I want is happiness. A lot of times, we forget that happiness is a choice. We forget that we have the power, control, and responsibility to make ourselves happy. Sometimes we give that power and control away. Sometimes we put that responsibility on someone else. 

How can I expect someone else to make me happy if I don't even know what makes me happy? 

Is this something that you do? Have you made someone else responsible for your happiness? If so, how can you take back that control? How can you depend less on others for your happiness?

"Self-worth is so vital to your happiness. If you don't feel good about YOU, it's hard to feel good about anything else."

"Happiness is when you feel good about yourself without feeling the need for anyone else's approval."

"It's not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make happiness a priority. It's necessary."

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they make the best of everything they have."

I read these quotes during class and one of my students told me about a happiness quote that she recently read on a blog and recommended that I read it. She sent me the quote and it's absolutely perfect. It summarizes exactly how I feel about happiness and about life. 

Ali on the Run is the name of the blog where this quote was found and the quote is below. 

I hope after reading this quote, you choose happiness. 

I hope that you always choose happiness.

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Stop Waiting 

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we’ll be more content when they are. After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on vacation, when we retire. 

The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now. 

Your life will always be filled with challenges. It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. There is a quote that reads, “For a long time, it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” 

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. 

Stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose 10 pounds, until you gain 10 pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

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Wishing you all of the happiness this year. 

Love,

Julia

Class theme: January 5, 2015 - January 17, 2015