“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the “unalienable rights” which the Declaration says have been given to all human beings by their Creator, and which governments are created to protect.
You have the right to pursue happiness!
How is that pursuit working for you?
You think that if you finally get that promotion? Close the deal? Find the perfect partner? Sell the company? Make millions and retire? Buy that fancy car? Learn that new skill? Get rid of all your problems? That you will finally be happy?
When you base your happiness on circumstance, you are giving away the power to something or someone else, to make you feel happy.
Why give away all that power? Why not take responsibility for your own happiness and choose to be happy right now?
Most people think that if they had money, they would do the right things and they would be happy. It’s really the other way around, first be happy, then do the right things and you will have money.
Instead of making happiness the destination, make it the journey. – Joe Apfelbaum
Be happy because you get to choose happiness.
Someone recently asked me how I am able to feel happy at anytime. I told them that it is a choice. I starts with what I focus on. If I focus on my unmet expectations from other people or from life, I get frustrated and sad. When I focus on appreciation, I start to feel happier. When I focus on what other people need instead of what I need and I help others, I feel happy and accomplished. When I focus on my own needs and worry about my desires, I feel depressed.
Gratitude and giving is a great way to feel happiness at anytime. If happiness is a feeling that you can awaken anytime, why doesn’t everyone feel happy all the time? Because people want the feeling to come from some external place. They want to get lucky. Most people do not realize that they are lucky to be alive and they can choose happiness and feel it anytime.
Now that you know this, will you take the time to think about all the great things that are happening in your life right now? Think about how fortunate you are right now?
Take responsibility for your own happiness and feel happy because you want to, not because it’s tied to some external occurrence. You get to feel happy, you get to smile and make other people happy as well. 🙂
“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
What are you grateful for today? Feel free to comment and let me know. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO of digital marketing agency Ajax Union. He is a public speaker, certified Google Trainer, and published business author. Joe enjoys speaking and writing about a broad range of business topics in his seminars, webinars and articles. Joe is the host of the popular podcast CEO Mojo and the producer of GrowTime.tv. In 2016 Joe was named the King of Kings County Brooklyn for his contribution to the business community in Brooklyn. Joe is proud of all his accomplishments, but most of all he is proud of his beautiful amazing kids.
For more about Joe, follow Joe Apfelbaum on social media @joeapfelbaum
