
“Happiness is the result of my decision to be happy.
There is no way to happiness,
happiness IS the way.
In other words, happiness is a feeling I tap into,
not an outcome of events.
I can be happy without changing anything in my life
except my relationship to my own thinking.
I decide to be happy
and commit myself to making happiness my state of mind,
rather than relying on a set of circumstances to do it for me.”
–Richard Carlson
Barbara Schanel
I couldn’t agree more. I once suffered from pretty severe depression and got past it without medication. The knowledge that my mind was playing chemical tricks on me coupled with the desire to be free of the endless days of self pity and weariness set me free, and though I still have occasional bad days, I can feel the chemical switches in my brain and have learned, for the most part, to disregard them.
Christy King
This is so true. When I first heard it, I never believed it, but with practice it really works. Even my 13 year old has been trying it and commented how much better he feels.
Gillie
For me the first step was to let go. To accept that something bad has happened and move on. It is history and the best I can do is learn from it and find the good in the experience. I got a slightly Pollyana reputation but hey who cares? I am the happy one :)