It’s easy to come up with reasons why we can’t be happy.As a matter of fact some people have more excuses than Carters has pills.
Maybe you think you have an excuse to be sad or upset; traffic was bad, he hurt me, didn’t keep his word, he betrayed me.
Or you may think you have an excuse to settle for where you are; you had a bad childhood, you went through a brutal break up, your partner doesn’t support you.
Well dear heart as long as you blame the past, a friend, your partner, the traffic, the weather – you name it… you will justify where you are and stay stuck in unhappiness.
Believe me, I put off writing my book for many years because of ALL the excuses I had that seemed totally justifiable. I didn’t have time, didn’t have the money, didn’t have an agent, didn’t trust what I had to say was important enough to put into print.
I get it!!
But at some point, if you want to move forward, if you want to invite happiness in, you have to ditch the excuses. Even if they are valid excuses like betrayal, abandonment, disappointment or death – toss them out. They are keeping you from your joy.
Ahhhh. Joy. Happiness. Big, bright smiles. I’m reminded of my volunteer experience last year in Liberia, Africa. The people were so happy and they had nothing to speak of materially – living in concrete shacks with virtually no furniture, wearing the same clothes every day, sweltering in the high heat and humidity, no internet, no TV, – and forget about Starbucks they didn’t have enough food in their belly….these people had plenty of reasons to be depressed so how was it they were so gloriously happy?
One woman in particular, “Mama” (leaning sideways with a huge smile in the pic above), made a lasting impression on me and everyone on the trip. Mama breaks it down so simply.
