I just brewed my morning tea. The teabag had a message on the label. It read, “Happiness is every human being’s birthright.”

Hogwash!

Birthright suggests entitlement. You are entitled to very little, if anything. Entitlement is one mindset where problems take shape and they stay in that mold, often for a lifetime.

Happiness is an option. You are not entitiled to be happy. Happiness is a choice. President Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Also, happiness is not a mindset that’s permanent. As Jerry Stocking says, “If you in anyway seek to avoid the downside, you will miss at least 1/2 of life.”

Happiness is ego based and the ego is always searching for it. When the ego finds happiness, it wants to trap it in a jar and preserve it for another day.  Happiness comes and goes just like the sunshine.

Look for happiness wherever you happen to be and enjoy its presence.  There is some effort involved. It may not just show up because you think you’re entitled to it. If you go to a party expecting to be entertained, you may be disappointed. If you bring the entertainment with you, the chances for lightheartedness increase.

Simply stated, a happy person is one who has more happy moments that an unhappy person. They take the time to seek it out rather than waiting for it to happen. Remember: It’s the quality of each moment that makes a quality life.

All the best,

John

P.S. The contributors to The Declaration of Independence were wisely accurate when they wrote, “the pursuit of happiness.”