Choose Happy

Earlier this week my husband and I paid off all of my private student loans. Woot! Woot! Now this is one loan of a few more to go, however it made me happy. Happy, a word so simple, but means so much. So many people are out their chasing happiness, myself included, when we should be carrying it around with us. Happiness isn't an action it is a choice. I always catch myself thinking if I could just have...fill in the blank, then I will be happy. Well happiness begins right now, in the everyday ordinary mundane activities of life. Happiness is also personal it is not a one size fits all. So that new job that Sally started it can make her happy even if you wouldn't find fulfillment in it even a little. Those shoes that Mary wanted, but you wouldn't be caught dead wearing, can make her happy.

Over the past year I have really had to start letting go of the I'll be happy when....

Living like this you will actually never be happy because you haven't learned to be happy with what you have so who is to say you should have more? Sure I would love to have all my loans gone right now, but they aren't so am I going to wait another 4 years to start being happy? Gosh I hope not!

Life is hard sometimes. Would you like to just dwell on that or would you like to start doing something to fix it? "Ugg my job is so awful!" Well are you trying to find another one or did you just want to complain about it? "I am literally going to be in debt for the rest of my life!" Are you going to do something more to start paying off the debt or are you just going to continue to live the way that got you into debt? "I literally have no more time in my day" Is everything on your schedule a necessity or can you reprioritize?

Every situation you find yourself in life there are always two if not more ways to look at it. For me, I was tired of being the one complaining so I began to take action. Again you can sit in your complaints and continue to be "unhappy" so to say or you can choose to start doing something to change your situation. For me I was tired of the same old same old. Get up, workout, go to work, come home, have dinner, sit on the couch watching tv, and go to bed just to turn around and do the exact same thing the next day. I craved something more because the routine I was in was not going to get me to my goals.

So I ask you, do you dream of something more for your life than the current routine you find yourself in? Well what are you going to do to change it? I'd start with three simple steps.

1. Make a list of all the blessings and things you love about your life. Then make another list about the things you find yourself complaining about. Notice how I didn't say the things you don't like about your life, because well there will always be things we don't like yet we are not always complaining about them.

2. Take your list of complaints and analyze if where you are currently in life will allow you to start to dissolve what you deem as current pain points in your life. Is your job solving the pain point? Are your relationships solving the pain point? Etc.

3. Finally, take action! This is the hard part, the part where it is okay to ask for help. Find someone that can hold you accountable, someone that may be able to fix a pain point, or someone that will be able to help you do some research if needed to start turning that pain point into a victory! If you are in need of someone, reach out, I'd love to see what I could do to help out! Most importantly though this is where we have to choose to be happy in the journey!

Now this doesn't have to be everyone's story, but this is mine, I had to start surrendering every aspect of my life over to God. I had to start building my trust in His plans for my life rather than my own. I had to realize all the blessings I had been given and CHOOSE to seek happiness in the present, not the past, not the future, the HERE and the NOW.

Stop~Breathe~Pray

God has big plans for you, even if they aren't visible just yet!