Wow! That is so true. It does take great courage to choose to be happy. To choose again and again to not get swept away with negativity when things don't go as planned. It takes great courage to give up control and go with the flow. It takes great courage to choose joy & love.
It is so much easier to yell when I am angry. It is so much easier to give my husband the silent treatment. It is so much easier to be passive aggressive than to recognize out loud that I am being passive aggressive. It is so much easier to listen to gossip than it is to stop it.
This year I decided to live with joy. I am choosing every day to roll around in it and celebrate it. I am doing things that make me happy, no matter how ridiculous. I own shoes covered in sequins and glitter now. They make me smile every time I see them and I see other people smile too. I am choosing to be more joyful in my body. I am doing
yoga regularly & making sure I get a massage once in a while. I am complimenting people more, smiling more often, speaking less, listening more, and generally trying my best to not let things rub me the wrong way.
All of this said to show that to choose joy, to choose happiness over and over again is hard work. It's hard to not let other people affect me. It's hard to walk away from the unsolicited advice, to bite my tongue, and to keep quiet. This week I sent out envelope after envelope of stickers that said "You are beautiful". I never put my name on the envelope. I just sent them out with the return address of "the Universe" and see what happens. My friends have had lots of fun putting the stickers up around town and I've had fun stalking them on facebook to see what they did with them. Things that like that make choosing joy & happiness the only way for me to live.
What a sweet thing to do. That's really awesome!
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