What if Happiness was just a choice away?

“If you want to be happy, be.”

This is a quote from the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.

And at first, when you read or hear it, you might have a blunt reaction, like “this is just plain bu<#$1it”. Being happy doesn’t happen like this, just with a snap. It’s not that easy.

If this is your first thought, you’re right. It’s not that easy - but it’s that simple.

Confusing, isn’t it?

Tolstoy’s wisdom is to remind us that we are in control of our happiness. Too often, we let external factors and events dictate how we feel, but crucially, we are the ones that interpret these things.

You are the one that chooses.

Does it mean that you should never be down? Feel sad or anxious? No - these emotions and thoughts are a part of you.

You should not shut them down, instead, you have to welcome them.

You should not feel guilty or unworthy because you have them. They make us Humans.

Yet, once acknowledged, you have to decide whether to keep on dwelling on these negative emotions and thoughts.

That is “that simple”.

Coming to the realisation you are the one in charge. That you are the one that chooses, at every moment, how you want to feel.

Is it easy? Hell no!

Every day, every hour, every instant, you are tested. You have to choose. It’s a practice. It requires you to be able to shift voluntarily your focus on the positive rather than the negative. It forces you to see losses as learnings, failures as growth opportunities.

You are the main actor and the director of your life. You have the power.

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