Sixty six percent of people in North America aren’t happy. That’s a really, really big number. Multiple surveys confirm it. Its not that they are unhappy or miserable. They are just not ‘happy’. Obviously something is missing. Or several somethings.
I’ve been researching, studying and making changes in my life for the past nine months and there is a solution. Perhaps not the solution that two thirds of the continent are looking for. Perhaps not an easy answer as the solution requires some learning, some commitment and some plain old fashioned hard work. But it worked for me.
For six of the past nine months, I have woken up every single morning with happiness and joy ( yes, joy) as my first thought. I’m happy to be where I am, surrounded by people I love and respect, doing the things I love to do and enjoying incredible leaps forward in health. Life really doesn’t get any better than that.
“IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY, BE”
People are unhappy for a multitude of reasons, from health challenges to financial concerns, from relationship difficulties to employment problems. But mostly they are just unhappy being who they are. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.” Tolstoy wrote, “If you want to be happy, be.” In a previous post, I mentioned a friend who’s joyful email created lasting happiness for me. I found myself reading it again today.
Great motivator and mentor Richard Bliss Brooke believes that “to be happier, stronger and more powerful, the answer lies in Vision“. It was Richard’s message that I internalized six months ago. It is his message that started me on my journey of discovery and brought me to a place in my life where I truly experience happiness and joy every single day.
IT BEGINS WITH YOU
The good news is that the path to happiness is well researched and duplicatable. It begins with you, ends with you and is totally dependant on you and your commitment to change. From my perspective, it has been worth every minute of the past six months to get to this point in my life.
My mission is not only to be happy, but to create happiness around me with people that are motivated to take that first step. And the first step is incredibly simple. In fact, the first step requires only two words. “Teach me”.
TEACH ME
Take a moment and think about your ‘happiness’ factor. Do you wake up every morning happy and joyful? Are you happy, truly happy about who you are, what you do and what you think? This can be a gut-wrenching process if you are brutally honest with yourself. I’m asking you to be brutally honest. And if you believe that you can change, if you aren’t afraid to roll your sleeves up and get busy and that you have a true passion for learning, let me know. Let’s chat about getting serious about getting happy. Just enter “teach me” in the comment section directly below this article. And by the way, I don’t charge for the assistance. That’s another one of those magical, empowering ingredients that make me happy.
Ending as usual with something to think about. “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.” (Dale Carnegie)
Saul Jacobson 