I wouldn’t categorize myself as a hippie, so find it amusing when friends tell me I’m granola, that I should go eat some chia hemp seed smoothies and do some down dog. While that actually sounds like a pretty decent plan, I do reflect on what led them to make these comments. I’ve come up with one major distinctive trait:

I am Happy.

What a notion! That being happy could alter the way someone looks at you, treats you, how they interact with you, how they label or judge you. In a world surrounded by negativity, sometimes being happy and positive makes you the odd man out.

I’ve learned that happiness can not be given to you by others, it can’t be bought, and it shouldn’t be easily altered by others reactions. It should be constant within you, even when faced with adversity. You make your own happy.

Finding my happy has been one of the most important things I didn’t know I was chasing. And I’ve been happy, deep down to my toes, for quite some time.  How did I achieve this? I started to listen to my truth in a way that isn’t profound or earth shattering or even worthy of an epiphany. I started choosing what makes me happy and avoiding that which didn’t.

Yes. It was that easy for me.

Now, by easy I don’t mean it was an overnight breakthrough and I surely don’t mean I don’t have bad or stressful days. I have been working on my happy in small ways, for years, practicing my craft, so to speak. It takes experience, time, trial and error to figure these things out.  It’s by being mindful of that which makes you happy to know to do more of it.

A few examples…
Practicing Yoga.
Quitting smoking and replacing it with running.
Choosing to let go of people who were unhealthy for me.
Becoming an advocate for my own health by cutting out most meat.
Moving to Colorado.
Starting nutritional school.
Saying no to invites because they may not be right, I may not want to do it, or it may be overbooking my time.

Again, not earth shattering examples, but some were extremely hard to achieve. Your happy should be your number one priority, so once you realize that pursuing more of what makes you happy and letting go of things that don’t, it should be a choice you make daily.

So, for Day 6 of the Mindful 21 sit quietly for day 5 and let happy wash over you. Think about those things that make you happy, the people you feel happy around, the activities and hobbies you feel joy when pursuing. And start doing them more.

Happy Day!