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Choosing Happiness

Did you know that it's up to you?

It's actually your choice.

You can choose to be happy instead of waiting around for it to suddenly appear out of nowhere one day and land in your lap. Happiness is called upon and cultivated.

Now keep in mind, this is my personal perspective of happiness. You might have a different view. Everyone has a unique view point, especially where emotion is concerned. But, nonetheless, I like my outlook on happiness. It helps me to see that I am the creator of my own thoughts and state of mind. It is my choice what feeling I choose to have on any given day. This does not mean I don't go with the flow of feelings, but that I can choose at any given moment to change what it is I desire.

For example, if I am having a hectic day, and I do have my share, I can choose to be breathless with activity or I can remind myself to stop and choose to be calm. I can go out for a walk and embrace the beauty that surrounds me and choose to experience that aesthetic as appreciation, gratitude, joy or numbness. I can choose to vacate and disconnect from my feelings, I can space out and be oblivious, or I can call upon the grace of the moment and be one with the beauty. These are all options.

I think we as a society, collectively lose sight of how powerfull we really are. I mean really full of power. We have the power to choose. It is something we are born with.

No one has the power to take that away from us. It is our birthright.

The key to owning that power fully, is to accept that you are a rightful heir to it. Knowing that you are empowered within to choose your emotion, to choose how you respond or react to something, is all up to you. It is all choice.

Many times, our childhood experiences and life learning gear us away from our power. We learned to give it all away, to quietly accept whatever happens to us, without question, without standing up and saying 'No!' We have become a passive society of powerless and uninspired automatons, going along with the crowd. It's a sad state of affairs that we have been raised in. Somewhere along the line, a standard was laid out and we are 'expected' to magically meet this invisible 'standard' by compromising and living according to someone else's perspectives. Where is the happiness in that?

I guess that leads me back to my original statement.

Choosing happiness is a choice.

Anytime you choose, you are making a decision. You are engaging your power.

Think about how you are feeling right now. How long has it been since you chose what you wanted to feel?

I am not suggesting that you go into a state of denial if you are in trauma, but I am suggesting that you insert a new option for yourself. Instead of sitting in pain, decide for 10 minutes that you will focus on happiness.

How does it make you feel? Are you lighter? Was a burden lifted? Even if it was a mere 10 minutes, it was a starting point. It was a choice. Would you rather go through life choosing happiness and drawing happy experiences to you, or by sitting in pain and expecting the worst, thereby feeling the worst?

It is still a choice.

It is your choice.

I ask only that this stirs a thought within you. It is my hope that you will look at the power you possess and carpe diem - seize the day! Make a choice! Choose to experience happiness in your life.

It's all up to you.

Enjoy - or not- it's your choice.

Jodie Foster is an Intuitive Counselor who assists clients to create extraordinary transformations in their everyday lives. Her work is uplifting, empowering and success-oriented. You can visit Jodie's website at http://www.illuminationsnetwork.com for further information and to schedule a private intuitive session. You can also look for weekly updates to her blog at: http://intuitiveinnovations.blogspot.com.

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MORE RESOURCES:

#39;I wish Pa much health and happiness#39; - Times of India

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-0fd=Rurl=http://movies.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3581149.cmscid=1256345862ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNGOE_LnFRKk_mU9Svzo8QwjYaco3g#39;I wish Pa much health and bhappiness/b#39;/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTimes of India,nbsp;Indianbsp;-/font nobr7 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Dad wouldn#39;t want anything else. I wish Pa health and eternal bhappiness/b. And if there#39;s anyone who deserves peace and bhappiness/b, it#39;s him!quot;/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-1fd=Rurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Whos_no_1_AB_Rekha_and_Ash/articleshow/3579963.cmscid=1256345862ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNGB9cO10pQ1UohcvkYHFT1hdQHriQWhoâ€™s no 1? AB, Rekha... and Ash!/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTimes of India/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256345862hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Happiness Pops Up with Poppy in â€œHappy-Go-Luckyâ€ - eFluxMedia

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2008/10/10/happy_go_lucky/cid=1255948746ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNGQVPJRAh17SeyMy659QoaPSDOUugimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=iGAkc4a0nooJimgurl=images.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2008/10/10/happy_go_lucky/story.jpg width=80 height=51 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Salon/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-0fd=Rurl=http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Happiness_Pops_Up_with_Poppy_in_Happy_Go_Lucky_26288.htmlcid=1255948746ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNFUwoxTnPvnaL3dmCgc5o1d8OR9NAbHappiness/b Pops Up with Poppy in â€œHappy-Go-Luckyâ€/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6feFluxMedianbsp;-/font nobr23 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1She understands perfectly that depression and gloominess canâ€™t possibly bring us bhappiness/b and, thus, she titters her way through any embarrassing or b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-1fd=Rurl=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2008/10/happiness_proves_its_own_rewar.htmlcid=1255948746ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNFAfIwO7tLEeT24y59MNiR4_hlAWgbHappiness/b proves its own reward/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Star-Ledger - NJ.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-2fd=Rurl=http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm%3Fnewsid%3D20158212%26BRD%3D2729%26PAG%3D461%26dept_id%3D569331%26rfi%3D6cid=1255948746ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNHeW-WMoLte2LCVKMOb6TyRELdAqQPollyanna Poppy/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrGay City News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-3fd=Rurl=http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/10/10/features/encore/encore9.txtcid=1255948746ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNFAvAPFC_2X4xjQ-BUDwMZmUcxBjwHawkins#39; bliss is infectious in #39;Happy-Go-Lucky#39;/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCarroll County Times (subscription)/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-4fd=Rurl=http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/2008/10/09/20081009mikeleigh1009.htmlcid=1255948746ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNGEFzxFSeXVCHnu0ZYUZIFQe6dC9QnobrAZ Central.com/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-5fd=Rurl=http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/movies/10happ.html%3Fref%3Dartscid=1255948746ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNE038yhLkC-CdDrByyG-Zo1QZca3gnobrNew York Times/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255948746hl=ennobrall 62 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Schools rated on pupils#39; happiness - Times Online

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076098/Five-year-olds-told-mark-school.htmlcid=1255460054ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNE98zKYtJBjrRSKnOdxIyWQa2Nh0gimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=uHy4rchjU-EJimgurl=i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/10/10/article-1076098-02F4983B00000578-163_468x303.jpg width=80 height=52 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Daily Mail/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4919278.ececid=1255460054ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNF8jFw3xeuxAV9BUseVM5kjtmagOASchools rated on pupils#39; bhappiness/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTimes Online,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The plans are intended to fulfil the legal requirement on all schools to look after pupil wellbeing but say responsibility for the bhappiness/b of students b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-1fd=Rurl=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076098/Five-year-olds-told-mark-school.htmlcid=1255460054ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNE98zKYtJBjrRSKnOdxIyWQa2Nh0gFive-year-olds are told they can mark their own school/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Mail/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255460054hl=ennobrall 8 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Research shows gratitude a positive force - Toronto Star

A Closet Full of Happiness - KYMA

#39;Music was a part of my health and happiness#39; - San Diego Union Tribune

19 ways to happiness, Tip #2 - Examiner.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.examiner.com/x-1161-Salt-Lake-City-Parenting-Examiner~y2008m10d9-19-ways-to-happiness-Tip-2cid=0ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNE2SQShsBmDCpk34Pc17DMwtHwYlAimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=oeoAKC5LopkJimgurl=www.examiner.com/images/blog/author/img154rachael_lever_photo.jpg width=80 height=67 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Examiner.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.examiner.com/x-1161-Salt-Lake-City-Parenting-Examiner~y2008m10d9-19-ways-to-happiness-Tip-2cid=0ei=D7PwSMmnI5-EyQTZ5rm7Bwusg=AFQjCNE2SQShsBmDCpk34Pc17DMwtHwYlA19 ways to bhappiness/b, Tip #2/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fExaminer.comnbsp;-/font nobrOct 10, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Tip number two in our journey to bhappiness/b is quot;Pretend to be Happyquot;. That is kind of the same as smiling when you don#39;t feel like it, but I think it goes a b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Time test predicts happiness, health - Calgary Herald

The Imprimatur of Happiness - ChristianityToday.com

The quest for happiness - mad.co.uk

Happiness - Google News

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