Searching for Happiness...

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by Skip Cohen

​Sunday Morning Reflections is rarely about business, but there's always a connection to what's going on in my life and maybe yours. I started the series because I wanted to get a little more personal than topics about marketing.

As I've written about in the past, Sheila and I each have a different book we read each morning. We've chosen two different authors who have written daily inspirations. We'll finish breakfast together and then take a few minutes to share whatever is down for that day from each of our books.

While Sheila's book is more about spirituality, mine is focused on positive thinking by Cyndie Spiegel. I snuck ahead on my reading, and tomorrow's hit me as a thought so many of us, from time to time, miss:

Happiness isn't found out on a beach somewhere basking in the hot sun. It isn't found in a cocktail glass or in approval from others. It is not something you need to chase or find. Instead, you can create it right here, where you are now, with the choices you make each day.

Choose to take good care of yourself. Do what brings you joy. Live a life you believe in. Spend time in the company of those who uplift you. Be kind. Happiness is the side effect of all of these experiences; it is not a thing you find out there.

When I look back over the years, I spent so much time chasing happiness when all the time it was "inside." It was all about the choices I was making. So often, we're too close to our own lives to recognize what we're doing that's blocking the way to happiness. We're focused on the wrong things and putting energy into a journey that might be down the wrong path.

And there's my point - just like the airlines telling you to put your oxygen mask on first before helping others, that smile you need in your soul is the same. You've got to find your happiness first - and it's all under your control if you just look hard enough and listen to your heart.

Wishing all of you a day ahead that's filled with happiness. It's not about being overjoyed; it's just about being content and comfortable with your decisions and recognizing the people who love you. Go for those eleven-second therapeutic hugs I've been writing about for years, and make it a weekend to look back on with a smile.

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

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