Happiness is not a choice to simply be or not to be, but rather the compilation of positive intentional choices, every single day. Consciously choosing to be mindful, to be present, to be kind to yourself, to do things that bring you joy, etc.
I have seen posts of people saying things about happiness simply being a choice, and I am here to tell you that if it was as simple as saying, "I am happy", all of the clients I see would be just that, happy. It's not. Things happen, and to be honest I'm not sure I even have the level of resiliency I see in some of the people I serve, if I had to go through what they have. That's a whole other topic though, so we won't get into it. A few months back I really struggled with the idea of happiness, and I still do, often. However, I find it easiest to be "happy", when I am literally just being in the moment. Some of my happiest days were spent last summer doing absolutely nothing but looking at an awesome view and just taking it all in...which really says a lot.
I always looked at happiness as a destination of sorts, like that if I could just finish undergrad I would be happy, or that if I could just finish grad school I could be happy, eventually it became, if I could just be in a healthy relationship...I would be happy. All of the woulds, assuming that when I got what I was after, I would have it. Like that happiness were a tangible item. Honestly, if you're reading this thinking, duh, I apologize, I'm still learning. I thought that if I could just get that 1200lb total and deadlift 500lbs...I would be happy. WELL, I got those things, still, not happy. I feel that these destinations can bring us temporary "happiness" and add to our lives over time, however, they are not, in and of themselves, happiness.
I don't have much to write in terms of lifting, I haven't been to the gym in 3 weeks, however, the topic of happiness intrigues me. It is not a destination and if you choose to look at it as such, you may experience an overwhelming feeling of emptiness along your journey. I like to view my life in days. What did I accomplish today? What can I take from today into tomorrow and how can I be better? Was I present today, was I mindful, did I treat myself with kindness or did I let negative thoughts control me. I cannot control tomorrow or the unknown and some days it is so freaking hard, but the only thing I have control over is me. Am I being the kind of human I say that I am, and am I making positive, conscious, choices every day to get me to where I want to be.