My Philosophy and Happiness
I can remember vividly being younger and daydreaming about being successful. I use to lay on my back for hours at a time looking up at the sky and imagining that I was married, had two kids (a boy and a girl), owned a really big house and had tons of money. I hoped to have accomplished my vision by the time that I had turned twenty-five. My philosophy was if I was able to possess all of the material wealth that I desired, I would be able to experience happiness.
Well, needless to say, the age of twenty-five came and passed and most of the things that I had envisioned for myself did not come to fruition. Instead of being happy, I found myself constantly reflecting on what I had not accomplished in my life. The more that I thought about all of the material things that I did not possess, the sadder it seemed that I became. Things got to be so bad for me that I became depressed and I even questioned my very existence.
Stumbling on Happiness
I felt so hopeless during that period of my life, that I started going to church hoping to find the answer to “How to be Happy”. I can recall one particular sermon that changed my life forever. The sermon was entitled "If You Change Your Perspective, Then You Will Change Your Life!"
The pastor explained that the reason why you are happy or unhappy is based on what you are focusing on. If you focus on things that make you unhappy, then you will be unhappy. On the other hand, if you focus on things that make you happy, then you will be happy.
What Makes People Happy
The more the pastor preached about changing your perspective, the more I became aware that my source of unhappiness was based on the way that I was defining my success. I was equating being successful with material wealth. The reason why I was unhappy was because I did not possess all of the material wealth that I had desired so I believed that I was a failure in life.
The message “If You Change Your Perspective Then You Will Change Your Life” caused me to redefine my concept of success. Instead of focusing on “What I have”, I began to focus on “Who I am”. At that point, I made a list of some of my better qualities and I pointed out that “I am a nice person, I am a caring person, I am a person with good work ethics, I Am a person with good morals” etc.
What I discovered was, the more that I identified with the “Who I am” instead of the “What I have”, the happier I became. As a result of focusing on things that make me happy, today I am able to experience a new found wealth of happiness.
More Useful Tips
Be Happy With Yourself
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