My Epiphany: The only person who can make you happy is yourself

I am sure everyone knows someone that is always happy. No matter how bad things are, they keep on smiling. Do you ever wonder how they do that? Do you envy them? I certainly did.

A few years ago, I was at a point where I had to struggle to find happiness in my life. I was unhappy in my job, my husband wasn’t making me happy, family life seemed more difficult with two kids…

As I was reading the Five Languages of Love, I was trying to figure out how my husband could “love” me more. If he did more chores around the house, would that make me happier? If he told me how beautiful and smart I was, would that make me happier? If we spent more time together, would that make me happier? When I really thought about those things, I realized the answer was “no” because he had tried those things and I was still unhappy.

So, why couldn’t my husband make me happy? I finally realized that it was because I was not letting myself be happy. It sounds too simple, but it was true. And just like that, I decided I was going to be happy. Life hasn’t been easy since I decided to be happy. But the stresses and struggles I faced since then have seemed easier to handle than before. And, I have never gone back to the world of utter unhappiness like I had been before.

You are probably saying to yourself, “It can’t be that easy.” But it really is. It is so easy to get bogged down with the challenges and difficulties we face in everyday life. We don’t realize the toll it can take on us physically and emotionally. The first step is to be aware of how these things affect you. Then you can make the conscious choice not to let those things bring you down.

No one else can make you happy unless you do it for yourself first.  You have a choice.  Choose to be happy.