Focus on Happiness...You Don't Have to Wait

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future;
it is something you design for the present.
Jim Rohn

by Skip Cohen

If you've followed me for even a short time, you already know Sundays are rarely about business. It's my time to jump the tracks and see where I land. As I sat down this morning, I had no idea what I wanted to write about, so I started going through Lou Mitchell's book, Mastering Positive Thinking. The quote above came up, and it's perfect.

The world is upside down, and it's so easy to let the negative noise into our lives. After all, it's knocking at the door 24/7! Yet, most of the time, we manage to stay focused on the simplicity of being happy...smiling more and bitching less.

Lou Mitchell went on to write:

...Often, we fall into the trap of believing that happiness is something to be achieved later, once we've met certain goals or conditions. However, true happiness comes from appreciating and designing our lives now, making conscious choices that bring joy and fulfillment today. By focusing on enjoying the process rather than the outcome, we find daily joy and satisfaction.

Sheila and I start the day around 6:30 am, with two pups allowed up on the bed on either side of us. We finish the day watching something that makes us laugh - usually a stand-up comic from Netflix. During the day, we watch out for each other when a storm starts to brew. We're not perfect, and we don't catch everything, but our goals are in sync - to be there for each other. The older you get, the more you realize the value of not wasting time on things that don't matter.

And there's my point this Sunday morning...stop waiting for happiness to show up like a delayed DoorDash delivery. Happiness is an inside job, but it takes work to turn the volume up loud enough to drown out everything else.

Wishing everybody a great day ahead with plenty of time to laugh...or at the very least ignore the craziness of the outside world. You don't need to wait for happiness when you design your life with components like gratitude, a touch of spirituality, humor, a pinch of sarcasm and things that makes your heart soar.

Happy Sunday...or Monday on the other side of the world.

We don't get it right all the time, but we rarely miss an opportunity to just laugh!