Come On, Get Happy!

Happiness is what we're all about, right? Almost everything we do is the pursuit of our own (and others') happiness in some way or another.

Why then does it sometimes seem so hard to achieve? So elusive?

I believe the answer lies within each of us. It depends on our approach to achieving happiness. Does happiness mean the absence of conflict, trials and sorrow? Or does it mean a successful way of managing the way we deal with conflict, trials and sorrow? We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it.

Or does it mean being content with what we have and counting our blessings more often than our problems?

Finding joy in simple things?

Focusing on what really matters?

Taking good care of our physical and spiritual needs?

Loving and giving service to others?

Having realistic expectations from life, ourselves and others?

A combination of all the above?

Easier said than done? Sure it is.

Worth pursuing? Sure it is.

Those who know me know that I am a quote-monger. I love to collect and share them. So here I must share what I think are some of the best quotes on happiness:

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Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. - Sir James Matthew Barrie

Don’t Worry. Be Happy. - Bobby McFerrin

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. - Abraham Lincoln

Everything you need for a happy life is within yourself. – Unknown

That load becomes light which is cheerfully borne. - Ovid

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. - Margaret Lee Runbeck

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. - Benjamin Franklin

The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. - Martha Washington

Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other. - Joseph Addison

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well being becomes. – Dalai Lama

It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis. - Margaret Bonano

Be happy. It's one way of being wise. - Colette

Happy people plan actions, they don't plan results. - Dennis Wholey

A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness. - Bernard de Fontenelle

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Buddha

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. - Fyodor Dostoevsky

May we never let the things we can't have, or don't have, or shouldn't have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have. As we value our happiness let us not forget it, for one of the greatest lessons in life is learning to be happy without the things we cannot or should not have. - Richard Paul Evans

If you want to be happy, put your effort into controlling the sail, not the wind. - Unknown

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I found this great quote from a blog by Mormon Guy that I thought worth sharing:

"When I was struggling to see the good things in life, I often listed the good things that God had done for me. I counted my blessings, outlined the talents and gifts He had given me, and named the people who loved me and supported me. I tried to see difficult things in life with an optimistic spin.

But, as time has progressed, I’ve realized that true happiness in life doesn’t come from blessings, talents, gifts, or even people. I could have all those things and feel awful. True happiness is linked to my knowledge of God and my actions in life.

“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it” (Mosiah 2:41).

Today, my life is amazing. I’ve learned the truth about happiness – that it’s based on making good decisions in life. Today I’m truly, sincerely, and completely happy. My life is not amazing due to the things I am given by circumstance or others. Life is amazing because of what I do with what I get. Because of how I think and see the world. Because of the changes I have made. Because of who I am."

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Those are great insights from someone who has learned well how to be happy. So I say to you and to me:

Come on, get happy!

See also:
Pharrell William's "Happy"
Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy"
The Science of Happiness