After a much needed vacation, I am back! Jay and I had a wonderful time eating our way through Peru; the food was to die for, I am missing it daily. I’m planning on doing a travel guide to Macchu Picchu, hopefully this week! We had long flights so I was able to listen to lots of podcasts and catch up on some good books. One podcast that particularly stuck with me was the Armchair Expert featuring Kristen Bell. If you follow her on instagram you know that she is an advocate for women and a supporter for many amazing causes. She’s an overall positive person and explained how and why during her interview on the podcast. Kristen says that everyday we have a choice between happiness and suffering, we choose how to respond to a situation which inevitably decides our mood thereafter.
I thought about this concept for a long time and it’s still resonating with me more than a week later. Everyday we make choices, whether we are aware of them or not. Orange juice or coffee for breakfast? Blue or black pants for work? Send the text or not? All day we make choices, so of course it makes sense that in any given scenario we can choose happiness or suffering. With any negative situation there has got to be some kind of positive light. If not, you will suffer and you will be miserable.
I’ll be the first one to admit that I compare myself, my things, my life to everyone. I can’t help it and it does cause me suffering. After listening to Kristen, I’m trying to think of something positive in each situation where I start to compare myself to someone. Just this morning as I was sitting in my 95 degree classroom with no air conditioning, I started to think about all the people in air conditioned rooms and I got jealous. I was miserable and I was suffering. I started to shift my mindset and think of all the reasons I was fortunate to be sitting in that hot, sweaty, humid classroom. One I have a job, two I have a job that I love, and three I have a job that I am extremely good at. All those people I am envious of in air conditioned spaces might not be able to say the same things. For those reasons I was choosing to be happy.
We only get one life to live. We can choose to be miserable, compare ourselves to others, be envious of the things we don’t have, but where does that get us? I am choosing to be happy. Surround yourself with people that have like minds and help others when you can. This past weekend I volunteered at an event sponsored by Dollar Giving, a nonprofit organization that supports local communities. The event was in downtown Hartford and I was quite anxious driving through traffic and finding my way through the city. At that moment when I started to feel uncomfortable, I thought about the people I would be helping that night and how much joy they would be feeling. Their happiness in turn caused mine. I had a wonderful time and was so glad I did it, and will definitely be on the lookout to do some more volunteer work. Being kind and bringing joy to others is the best way to choose happiness. It’s funny that I teach this to 7 and 8 year olds but it is still relevant to adults each and everyday.
So what will you do to choose to be happy today? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Xoxo
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