Every single day of our lives we are faced with hundreds, possibly thousands of choices. The most important choice in your life is the committment to being happy.
Do not take this statement lightly, this isn’t a choice you can make today and change tomorrow because you are having a bad day. This is a LIFE LONG committment.
I recently listened to a fantastic podcast interview between Lewis Howes and Tony Robbins. If you are looking for some inspiring motivational speakers I highly recommend these two men. I love Lewis Howes’ podcasts, especially his 5 minute Fridays as they are like quick shots of positivity for busy people! Check him out on Instagram or his podcasts can be found on iTunes.
This particular interview with the legendary Tony Robbins struck a chord for me for several reasons but the main one was the concept that, choosing to be happy is THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF YOUR LIFE.
Life IS stressful and there is guaranteed to be hard times for everyone, people will die, we may suffer financially, our health may suffer and any of these events may affect us. This is fact. There will be these days in life.
Tony Robbins suggests that we need to live in a beautiful state of mind, meaning happiness with NO conditions. For example, saying I will be happy as long as (insert negative event here) doesn’t occur. This is not committing to being happy. These negative things are usually ALWAYS out of our control. We need to commit to live without suffering knowing these events will occur.
Of course, we will have MOMENTS of suffering, however, whenever we get frustrated or hurt we need to allocate a SHORT period of time to allow that suffering. (ideally no more than a minute or two depending on the specific situation). Consider ‘worry’ for a moment; It is USELESS. If you are worrying about something that can be changed, change it. If it cannot be changed then what is the point of suffering through that worry? Whenever we are in this state of suffering we are useless at helping ourselves and others. So acknowledge this, find something to be grateful for and move on.
Most things we make ourselves suffer through are fleeting moments that are forgotten in an hour, a day or week so why make that period of suffering longer? It is not helping you or anyone else.
“Happiness is found in the absence of expectation and a continuous focus on appreciation.” – Tony Robbins
So how do you commit to a beautiful state of mind? Stop sweating the small stuff. Its almost ALL small stuff. Accept that shit happens. Be grateful you have that experience to learn.
GIVE. Give your time and energy, contribute to something. I promise you that if you help others in any way possible, you will feel joy. You will also notice what other people are experiencing and I am certain this will cause you to experience gratitude for your life and what you have. The grass is rarely actually greener.
If you find yourself in a state of suffering, consider this; It is usually because you lost something; Love, money, health. Or you have less of something, comparison is the thief of joy. Or you have told yourself you can NEVER do something, (anything is possible, return to my previous blogs for more words on that). All these things are selfish, self obsessing thoughts. Recognise this and open your eyes to anything around you that you can appreciate and be grateful for.
“Happiness is a decision” – Tony Robbins
Mindfully take time to measure your happiness levels frequently, like anything that you are working on, the progress levels need to be checked regularly so that we stay on track. This means checking in with yourself several times a day, more regularly if you can, every few minutes would be ideal. Anything can affect our mood at any time but if we keep our ‘suffering’ in check every few minutes, it is not given the opportunity to manifest or waste precious time in our lives. Life is too short to spend it suffering.
I challenge you to begin from this moment to live your life in a beautiful state of mind, to choose happiness. To accept the things you cannot change, to not waste anymore time suffering, to GIVE in any way possible to others, even a friendly smile or a few minutes of actually truly listening to someone when they are speaking is a great start. Most of all, practice gratitude. Choose Happiness.