Understanding that Happiness was Never Circumstantial.

The happiest moments were those where I chose.

I decided the perspective within which I would view the world around me.

They say that reality is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you perceive. It was in acknowledging this adage, that I realized the extent by which we are chasing what we have within us to choose. 

We can choose to be happy.

Resist the urge to feel disempowered by circumstance.

Happiness is less fleeting when we move with intention. Framing the world around us in a way that nurtures the world within each and everyone of ourselves.

Happiness is a choice. A choice we can make everyday.

Realizing that there was never a need to wait for moments that were always well within your ability to create.

“Only when…” the things we tell ourselves. The conditions that we are convinced must be satisfied to find the meaning we are seeking. Sacrificing the present moment for an emotion that exists only in our imagination.

There is no framework that guarantees success. There is no fixed set of accomplishments that will guarantee you a life of happiness.

There is no price tag that will guarantee you a life that holds meaning, or gives you a sense of fulfillment.

You can follow the cookie-cutter life milestones that society positions with a lifetime satisfaction guarantee, and still find yourself feeling empty or at a loss. You could have everything, as far as what observation can tell, and still find yourself wondering why it still doesn’t seem to be enough.

Nothing external can fill a void that exists within us.

Only time and healing close what sometimes splits open within us. The fractured and broken parts of ourselves, screaming for our tender care and affection. 

A life of meaning comes with acceptance. Learning to accept and own your truth... and releasing shame about who you are and who we've been. We are each after all, a work-in-progress.

Recognize that your personal history is a tribute and has informed your becoming in ways that deserve acknowledgment and recognition.

Celebrating the days that you have survived, which happens to be everyday since your first breath, including the day you find yourself read these words. You're a survivor.

You have outlasted the hard days, and especially those where you weren’t certain that you would pull through. You did. Against the odds you have shown up for yourself more than I'm sure you acknowledge.

Be the vibe that you would choose.

Fulfillment comes with respect. Respecting the journey that has shaped your reality. Holding space not just for the good, but for the bad and the ugly just as much. The hardest lessons are those that promote the deepest of our roots, fostering growth and nurturing our becoming.

Find peace with the circumstance that has lead you to here and now. Knowing that despite the twist and turns. you have always found yourself where you were supposed to be somehow. You are more than the stories and memories that have shaped you. You are every conscious thought, every hard decision, every highlight reel, every public and private fall that is personal to you.

I found my happiness in the darkest moments.

It was the smile that I reserved for myself and the glimmer of hope I dared to trust in.

It was the moments I choose to nurture my soul and showed myself compassion. Withstanding the harshness of life’s cruel moments, believing in the knowing that choosing to stand in alignment with myself would make every difficult moment worthwhile.

And it did.

I chose happiness and reclaimed power that most of us never realize we’ve abandoned.

The world around us gets so much of our attention yet it is the world within us that shapes the realities we find ourselves witnessing.

Happiness was never something you could hold with your hands.

Meaning that lasts is what we feel with our hearts. There is power when we focus on our own healing, maintaining inner alignment and taking daily moments to restore. 

As the message on my candle states perfectly, “It’s not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy.”

Thankful for the journey that is uniquely yours.

And from a place of gratitude, acknowledging that everything in life serves our becoming. Believing that if nothing in life is accidental, which I believe in fundamentally,…then why not choose the lens that best enables you to see the brighter side of every step along the path you find yourself on?

Knowing that at any given moment, you get to choose how happy you can be.

#StayHappy #ChooseHappy #ChooseHealing