At this time of year, when people are making New Year’s resolutions, something I also do however, I start by reflecting on my life and what I’ve learned during the past year. It seems like January is the time of year when you can erase all the mistakes of your past and start with a clean slate. I have now learned that it is better to create a new page for the coming year and not to wipe the entire year away because with the mistakes, there were also beautiful memories.
What I know is that if I choose happiness, I will receive happiness. It is not an easy task but it is possible with a few easy steps. First you must focus on the little blessings every day in your life. Things like getting a spot in the front of the mall when the parking lot is completely full or finding a twenty dollar bill in an old coat or in the laundry. The second step is to surround yourself with people who bring you up, not tear you down. Now this one is a little tougher because there are some people that are part of your life and you cannot break free from them. What you can do is find the things that will help you move forward in your life, and ignore the rest. Remember they may be battling something you are not aware of and you are the only person who has control over your thoughts and actions. Thirdly, you must forgive the mistakes of your past. This is the key to moving forward in your life. Remember, we as human beings, will always make mistakes or bad choices, but the key to happiness is learning from it and forgiving yourself and others. The past cannot change, but the future can and wasting time dwelling keeps you from all that is beautiful. Lastly, you need to find and define what it is that makes you happy. When I posed the question to a number of people, the response was “my kids make me happy” or “shopping makes me happy”. While these things bring happiness, they do not define what makes you happy. Take the time this in this New Year, to really focus on what it is that makes you happy and when you do that, you will find that there are so many more blessings than unhappiness.
What I know is that when you take the time to notice the entire positive that surrounds you, the negative doesn’t really seem that massive and you will truly find joy in the everyday.
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