The 1st key to being happy

There are two keys to being happy and in control of your life, and both of them require choosing. 

The first key requires choosing what is.

What do I mean by that?

Choosing what is, involves complete acceptance of what is happening right now in your life.

The alternatives to acceptance are resistance or resignation.

Resistance involves feeling that it’s all very unfair. This is not what you wanted. This happened despite your best intentions and attempts, and you’re not going to stand for it.

Resisting takes energy and it’s ultimately pointless and exhausting because you can’t change what is.

Resignation is giving up and believing that you’re in a bad situation and that it is bound to continue because there’s nothing you can do about it.

Resignation is also where you feel that you’ve tried before and you know now that it’s hopeless. It may work for others, but you’ve proven time and time again that it doesn’t work for you and that’s the end of it.

Acceptance however is very different from both resistance and resignation. It doesn't involve wasted energy fighting, and it doesn't  have the giving up or hopelessness that come with resignation.

Accepting it doesn’t mean having to like it, but it does mean not putting any energy into trying to change what is.

What about your life are you not accepting right now?

Is it how your spouse, children, parents or work colleagues are, or is it that you’re not where you should be in life? It’s not where you thought you’d be by now and it’s so very unfair.

Your spouse, children, parents and work colleagues are exactly how they are and that’s that.

You’re exactly where you are in your life right now and that’s how it is.

Choose it all as it is and let go of the negative energy of resistance.

Tomorrow we'll look at the second key to being happy and being in control of your life.