I remember the exact spot I was in when I realized that I was able to choose happiness. I’d always thought that happiness just came to me like a leaf in the wind. Blowing around.
When I realized differently I was walking to my mailbox with my keys in my hand and listening to an audiobook called Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki. He said something along the lines of :
“Happiness, actually is all around, we just need to look for it.” Fumio Sasaki in Goodbye Things
I stopped in my tracks. What!! I could look for happiness? I don’t have to wait for it to come to me?!
This was a revelation.
I spent the last 3 years, since I purchased the book, figuring out how to choose happiness.
Here is what I found brings happiness:
1. Gratitude
2. Looking for the miracles
3. Doing what you love
4. Doing things for others
5. Creating
6. Meditation
I found these powerful tools, and use them in my daily practices but THEN found out that really, it’s not about finding happiness!
It's wonderful to be happy, don’t get me wrong, but there is beauty in other emotions to. There is beauty in sadness, grief, fear, excitement, love, joy, peacefulness. Every emotion has its time and place. I found that I would squash my emotions in order to feel happy. But squashing never worked for long.
I am now reading a book by John C. Maxwell called The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth and in it, he hits the nail in the head.
It isn’t about the goal or even happiness. It’s about GROWING not the END but the ACTION of growing. It’s the feeling we get when we grow. It about being personally better each day. He even encourages us to write a growth plan, not just goal planning. I love this idea so much, I did it!
Here’s my growth plan for the near future:
1. Work on my fears of anger
2. Continue a daily meditation practice
3. Learn as much as I can about being a coach by reading, completing courses, learning from other coaches, and coaching people.
4. Keep filling my body with nourishing foods that it wants and moving my body everyday.
5. Keep working on learning to love myself
6. Delve into my beliefs that no longer serve me and take a look at where they come from.
7. Journal to help understand myself
What is your personal growth plan? How do you plan to grow in the near future? I'd love to hear your plans!