You Deserve to Be Happy

Happiness comes naturally to many people, but for others, feelings of positivity and joy are strangely elusive.

Perhaps you’ve experienced trauma in your childhood, such as divorce, abuse, a car accident, or the death of a loved one. Maybe you suffer from survivor’s guilt, past transgressions, or self-imposed expectations that are completely unrealistic. Or perhaps you look around you and see sickness, poverty, war, violence, and other social injustices that make you feel guilty for finding your own joy while others are hurting.

The truth is, you deserve to be happy just as much as anyone else, regardless of money, age, health, fame, failures, successes, and even your past.

Our past and present lives often define how we feel and how we view ourselves, along with how we believe other people perceive us. These viewpoints can contribute to extreme feelings of dissatisfaction if you aren’t able to make peace with your past and take control of your present.

Though there is no single best path to feeling happy, there are some things you can do to shift your mindset into one that is ready to be happy again:

You Must Believe You Deserve Happiness

Somewhere along the journey, you convinced yourself that you didn’t deserve to be happy. Maybe you told yourself that others have it worse than you do, so it’s not fair for you to be happy. Or maybe you’ve done something you’re not proud of, such as causing unhappiness to others and continue to punish yourself.

But that same inner voice that took away your joy is the same one that can help you bring it back.

It’s not enough to go through the motions and do what happy people do. If you don’t first believe you should be happy, you never will be. Instead, you need to acknowledge that YOU are responsible for the way you feel. Make a conscious choice to prioritize what makes you happy, take every blessing that comes to you, and believe you have earned the right to shine.

Stop Feeling Guilty

When unhappiness has become your norm, it’s easy to feel guilty when you finally start showing signs of happiness, and that can be scary and deceiving for many. For some, it feels inauthentic because you’ve been missing these feelings for so long, and you may even be inclined to fight it. You start thinking that it’s only temporary and refuse to allow these positive feelings to consume you because you feel like they’re setting you up for disappointment.

These feelings of guilt can kill your happiness, so don’t dwell on them. Make a conscious choice to acknowledge only those things that you can control and keep moving forward.

Recognize Toxic Traits or Behaviors

Are you sabotaging your own happiness? If you need to make amends with someone, do it. If you need to address your anxiety with therapy or medication, do it. We are often our own worst enemies and we need to acknowledge when we might be part of our own problems.

Surround Yourself with Happy People

You are the company you keep. Happiness is contagious, so surround yourself with people who emit positivity and make you want to be the best version of yourself.

Take Life Day by Day

Your present self is not defined by your past, nor is it a product of conditions you can’t control. Regaining your happiness likely won’t happen overnight, but don’t get discouraged. Continue taking life day by day, step by step, and focus on the end goal.

You deserve to be happy, even if you have to work a little harder for it than others. Just don’t forget to take everything you’ve learned along the way with you —you might be able to use it to guide others on the same journey.

Robert Moment is a personal branding strategist and executive leadership coach who specializes in teaching CEOs, Executives, Entrepreneurs, and Professionals how to unlock their potential for success being the Go-to Leader in their industry. Robert brings out the best in people in business and life.

Robert is the author of several books including, How to Be Happy With Myself and Executive Leadership Coaching Guide.

Visit www.WhatMakesYouStandOut.com to become a Go-to Leader and Visit www.HowtoBeHappyAgain.com to download a FREE Chapters of How to Be Happy With Myself.