Choose Happiness

Abraham Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." In other words, our personal level of satisfaction is entirely within our control. Otherwise, why would the same experience disappoint one person but delight another? Happiness is not an accident but a choice. 

Is happiness something over which people have no control, or can people choose to be happy?

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Is a glass half empty or half full? Both refer to the same glass of water with the same amount of water, Yet the word empty seems to infer some measure of dis-satisfaction in that something is "lacking".  Half-full on the other hand is far more positive, almost implying there is room for growth, that the glass could be full.

Our attitudes and perceptions does determine our state of happiness to a large extent. Life is filled with both suffering and joy. These are unavoidable axioms of life. It's how we choose to handle these situations, that matters. Happiness and sorrow are relative states. One can never truly appreciate happiness or a state of satisfaction without experiencing sorrow.

The Buddha spent years meditating under the Bodhi Tree pondering these very questions. He stated that there is suffering in human life and that you need to understand its causes. Ultimately it's your state of mind, that can help you overcome it. He expounded that we need to maintain a state of equanimity - one where suffering and joy has no effect on you whatsoever.

This state of perfect equanimity may be a challenge for most folk of today. But we can choose not to drown in the sorrows that life throws our way.

Look at my own life. My autism affects me in so many aspects of my life. Not being able to talk or having full control of my body is frustrating on a daily basis and many a time I do sink. But I also have so many other talents and the potential to make a difference in my life and that of others. This attitude has to be a conscious choice in order to make our life meaningful and productive.

We can choose to see the fullness of our life instead of its emptiness. We can choose to be happy!