Happiness: Halt!

Last night, I was perusing facebook and began to feel that nagging, their-life-is-better-than-yours attitude sneak in. I put down my phone and said to my partner "I think maybe I should give up Facebook for Lent."

There was a lot wrapped up in that statement, but the conversation that followed was about my view of happiness. My faithful readers (ha) will remember that I started this blog, almost TWO years ago with a post titled A Happiness Journey. I had just celebrated a birthday and decided then that I was committed to discovering happiness in the year following. I was committed to being on a path towards happiness, and to doing more of what truly brought me joy.

We continued to talk about why my happiness depends on the lives of other people, and how it really doesn't, but that I often find myself comparing and wondering "how can they be so happy all the time!? Should I be that happy? Are there things that I should be doing that would make me HAPPIER?!" If that reads: exhausting to you, you would be correct. But...I can't stop asking those questions if I'm on a happiness journey, right?

Wrong. Today, I'm wrestling with what a journey to happiness really means. I've done a lot of self-help reading on the topic and honestly, I think maybe I've missed a huge piece of the puzzle.

"But babe, happiness is a choice," he said. "And...there is a difference between happiness and what brings you pleasure. Those two things are not the same."

AND THEN...I woke up to this in my Best Lent Ever devotional:

(It appears that this is something I should explore.)

Happiness is a choice. Happiness is a choice. For someone who sometimes has trouble making a decision on what to have for breakfast, this is sorta scary. What exactly does this mean and how does one make a practice of choosing happiness in all of her moments?

That is a question that lends itself to another journey because I certainly do not know the answer. It is comforting though...to know this means knowing that I am 100% in control of my own happiness and that my joy is not dependent on anyone else...or on any social media picture...or on the way that anyone else defines their own happiness. It has no bearing on my ability and desire to be happy...I am the only one that can impact that.

So really, happiness is less about doing and more about just being. 

I read this article this morning (because this is an extremely popular topic...) and I think I found my new mantra and a start to an answer to the questions above:

Savor. Life is made up of many, many sweet moments and what is happier than holding on to those? I'm not sure what better defines happiness than the people and moments that make my heart feel full.

Savor.