Happiness lives inside us all. It can be impacted by exterior incidents and circumstances. It can be battered and bruised. There are times when it is easier to access than at other times. The focus can become distorted. But it remains as a super power…a personal powerful resource, a survival tool without peer. However it comes with responsibility.
We can either nurture or ignore our potential for happiness. It’s a matter of choice. It’s altogether possible to refuse to be happy…to ignore the positives and concentrate on the negatives. Doom and gloom can be used to replace promise and contentment.
Happiness can be found in even the saddest and most difficult of circumstances. It depends on the attitude of the individual. And that attitude is an attitude of gratitude. We are surrounded by positivity and beauty. The secret lies in allowing ourselves to see it…and appreciate it.
That means living in the here and now…being in the present. If we focus on what we can see, hear and smell at this very moment in time we are in touch with our inner self.
When we allow that connection to be overshadowed by negative thoughts we run the risk of becoming self-destructive.
Materialism is not the answer. What we own or accumulate can become a burden. Money may change our surroundings but it does not change our character. What we have or what we desire does not change who we are.
Mental wellbeing is dependent on both balance and control. Neither can be purchased.
Advice exists in abundance. We are surrounded by alternatives and suggestions. None of it has any value unless it is examined and adapted to meet individual circumstances.
What we do with what we have combined with a passion for appreciation leads us down the path to happiness.
Gary Bentley Counselling 