Happiness is an Inside Job

Lessons you can share with your kids or with your inner child.

#6 Happiness is an inside job!

​What I’d like to share with you today is that it is not your responsibility to keep anyone else happy – you simply can’t. You may have noticed that a parent or sibling is sad no matter how good or careful you are around them. You are only responsible for your own happiness and it is important not to give away your happiness to anyone or anything else. What I mean by that is that it is very typical to think “I’ll be happy when mum is happy” or “I’ll be happy if I get a good mark on my test”. That puts the source of your happiness outside you and the truth is that happiness is an inside job! The source of our happiness is within us. It is good to know. 

If we are responsible for our own happiness it means that:

• You have a right to be happy! 
• You don’t have to be miserable just because someone else is miserable. You may feel guilty for wanting to be happy when someone else is sad, but it is OK. You have permission. 
• No one can take your happiness away from you – only your thoughts can do that. 
• It is possible to be happy when everyone around you is miserable.

 
And guess what? When you are happy, others are likely to feel better as well. Everyone wants to be around a happy person – we like to associate with them because it rubs off on us. You can be that popular happy person. Our mind has the power to be happy whatever the external circumstances happen to be.
 
Sometimes just knowing that happiness is in us at all times can help us be happier. We just can’t always see that it is there.
 
Action Steps:
Find a quiet place, then close your eyes. Imagine putting all your worries into a balloon, then watch it float away until it disappears high in the sky. Now, FEEL the lightness and space inside you where happiness lives. Have a go!