Words from Michelle Obama and Kristen Houghton-make your happiness your priority

They are words directly from my own book, “AND THEN I’LL BE HAPPY! Stop Sabotaging Your Happiness and Put Your Own Life First” and they are spoken by the First Lady herself.

“Put yourself first on your priority list.”

In an interview by Jenice Armstrong of The Philidelphia Daily News, Mrs. Obama’s message to women is  that is it’s all about making yourself happy.  She goes on to say,

"Throughout my life, I've learned to make choices that make me happy and make sense for me. Even my husband is happier when I'm happy. So I have freed myself to put me on the priority list and say, yes, I can make choices that make me happy and that will ripple and benefit my kids, my husband and my physical health. That's hard for women to own. We're not taught to do that. It's a lesson that I want to teach my girls so they don't wait for their 'aha' moment until they are in their thirties like I was."

She gives a wonderful example about how women sacrifice what is important to them by saying that after her oldest daughter was born she completely stopped exercising. Her work-out routine was stopped but not her husband’s. Men, believes Mrs. Obama, prioritize differently. I understand completely what she is saying; I did the same exact thing as a young mother.

Michelle Obama is right on target when she says that the happiness and well-being of her husband and children depends in large part on her own happiness. Just as I detail in my book, a happy woman is more able to do more for others because she is not frustrated by her own unhappiness.

Why do we as women put our happiness “on hold?” Most people set conditions for when their happiness can occur, usually well down on our “to-do” list. We’re not giving ourselves permission to be happy until we’ve made everyone else happy! Mrs. Obama’s message is a potent one and filled with truth. We need to make ourselves happy; we are the only ones who can do it. By being happy and fulfilled ourselves, we’re then in a better position to be better wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends.

We should never put others before our own wants or needs. Michelle Obama has said her own mother put her children  first  to the detriment of herself.

“She encouraged me not to do that. She'd say being a good mother isn't all about sacrificing. It's really investing and putting yourself higher on your priority list.”

Invest in yourself, make yourself happy; make your needs and goals a priority.

related article – We Were Talking About Happiness…

***© 2009 all rights reserved Kristen Houghton The above articles may not be rewritten, copied, published, broadcast, or redistributed, wholly or in any part, without the express written permission of Kristen Houghton.   

Do you sabotage your own happiness in order to make other people in your life happy? Learn how to put your own life first! Read Kristen Houghton's new book, "AND THEN I'LL BE HAPPY!"  due in stores in Fall 2009. Pre-order it today. Available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon, and all bookstores  

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