“Happiness is a choice.”

That is the quote I have as part of my email signature. It’s my quote; although I rest assured I am not the first person to utter those words. I wish I had a buck for every time someone commented on that quote.

I think happiness IS a choice. But I’m not talking about the Hallmark version of happiness. I know a lot of times we confuse happiness with pleasure. We focus on the externals in our life, such as “When I finish this project, then I will be happy. When I get my new car, then I will be happy. When I finish school, then I will be happy.” I know, I’ve said them all. These are the musings of the personality and the ego. The problem is there is always something more to want, when the reality crashes in that what you thought was going to make you happy, only made you happy for a short amount of time.

So… what I’m really talking about is JOY. I think joy is similar to happiness, but is a deeper and broader experience. Happiness feels a bit “me, me, me” – which is just fine, but keep in mind that “me, me, me” doesn’t take you through the tough times. And you can be sure that there are always going to be tough times in life. Happiness is emotional and is fleeting, joy is an attitude about life, your life, and can remain even when happiness seems elusive.

The experience of joy brings us out of Self and into other and a sense of something “Greater” than ourselves, God/Goddess/Source/Awareness, whatever you want to call it.

We know full well that chaos and spirit crushing events happen in life… and it is our internal reaction to these things that dictate whether we are having a joyful and peaceful life.

Therefore JOY is the deep abiding serenity and poise we experience when we are grounded in our willingness to know the good that we have and that we are, to know the Universe’s power for good.

It is our power to choose how we feel. It is our choice to profoundly know that our Life is in complete support of us. In making this choice, we open our hearts to Hope!

I am a seminary trained Ordained Interfaith Minister, Spiritual Counselor and owner of Sacred Stages LLC.

Spiritual Counseling uses the circumstances of your present situations… negative beliefs, destructive habits and patterns, or difficult health issues to find the seeds of deeper self-understanding and transformation. For further details or to schedule a complimentary coaching session, please email coach@maximizeu.life