How To Always Choose Happiness In Life

Is Happiness a choice we can make? A lot has been written and said about how happiness is a choice. Whether this choice is one that is easy to make is debatable. Below I share some ways in which you can make the choice to be happy.

 

#1. Always Choose Life Over Death

Every day of your life, God places before you two choices. You can either choose life and blessings or death and curses. What is interesting to note is that the choice you make affects not just you but your descendants as well.

Although the choice to be made appears obvious; the actual test is not as easy at it looks mostly because we make these choices even without being aware that we are doing so. For example, when you choose to be happy and enjoy life as it has been presented to you, you are choosing life. On the contrary when you focus and dwell on things you do not have or choose to fix your paradigms on what should have been then you are inevitably choosing death.

#2. Choose to Stay in the Present 

We are told in Psalms 118:24 that \”This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it\”. It may be argued that according to this verse, every day is a gift from God. Similarly that God never intended that we postpone our happiness to some days and not others. We are called to rejoice and be glad for each day. WOW! What a high calling this is.

In order to rejoice and be glad each day, you have to make the deliberate effort to stay in the Present moment. According to the verse above, we were not promised \”days\” in the past or the future but the present day. This will require that you let go of what you think life ought to have been or what you want it to be and instead place your focus on what is before you. When you do this, you will be able to make the most of the day you have. In turn, in the future, you will be able to live off the memories you are creating and not the regrets of what should have been.

#3. Choose to Count Your Blessings

You need to also cultivate the habit of counting your blessings and naming them one by one. I have a friend who reacts to bad situations by saying \”it could have been worse\”. This is what I choose to do last week when I fell in a trench, bruised my leg and got a swollen ankle; even though this meant I would not be able to wear my cherished heels and meet my weekly fitness goals I was thankful that I had been spared a fractured ankle given the fact that the trench was a deep one.

In addition to counting your blessings, you need to remember that you are blessed to be a blessing. The joy that comes from being a conduit of God blessing another human being is immeasurable. The same goes for when you purposefully show kindness to those in need of it.

#4. Choose to be Intentional 

Without a doubt, choosing happiness requires being intentional. This means that you alone are responsible for your happiness. Your happiness should not be a result of something you achieve or because of someone\’s existence. Doing this calls for a paradigm shift given the fact that we live in a world where happiness is tagged to success and yet the world\’s definition of success is skewed. It entails working hard, getting lots of money or being popular and getting recognition from certain people. Apparently, it\’s only after you have all of the above that happiness can pop its face in your doorway. We all know if this was the case then many rich and famous people would be living happily ever after but they too are searching for the key to happiness.

Finally, 

Although always making the choice to be happy is not an easy decision to make, its benefits are enormous. You need to realize that happiness only comes after you decide that you will be happy. This will require being more optimistic and grateful for each day. In addition, the road to consistently choosing happiness is one that you must continue to take with the hope that one day you shall arrive at your desired destination.

In what ways are you making happiness a choice? Let us continue the discussion in the comments section.

                                                      Mountain Kilimanjaro. Photo Credit Nadiah Bakkidde