Sales Blog
HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE
HAP'PINESS, noun [from happy.] The agreeable sensations which spring from the enjoyment of good; that state of a being in which his desires are gratified, by the enjoyment of pleasure without pain; …Perfect happiness or pleasure unalloyed with pain, is not attainable in this life.
Noah Webster 1828
Is happiness circumstantial like winning the lottery? Or is happiness something that we must choose to pursue? Somewhere during the past few years of Covid I found myself slipping from being a person who saw the glass half full to losing sight of the glass altogether. A subtle yet real feeling of depression began to settle in as each day started to look the same - coffee, read , exercise, walk the dog, shower, shave , breakfast , then Zoom / Teams calls in my home office. It felt trapped like Bill Murray in the movie GroundHog Day. I observed myself becoming restless, agitated, and irritable. The fallout from COVID- caused supply chain issues, lack of workers , sky -rocketing prices, along with logistical shipping nightmares, only accelerated my downward spiral. I kept putting one foot in front of the other, but I felt like an extra zombie on Walking Dead. I was Neo/ Neal trapped in the Matrix.
A turning point occurred when my wife encouraged me to shop for an“ attitude cup”. The inspiration came from our youngest son, who consistently used his Rae Dunn ceramic cup, with the word “Curious” engraved on the side. Instead of dirtying a new cup every time he made coffee or matcha tea during his programming pomodoros, he’d wash and reuse his “Curious “ cup.
Noting my legal addiction to caffeine, I agreed that a coffee cup combined with a mission statement might be a good thing , so we visited a local big box store to see what we could find. Scanning the various cups with a plethora of themes and messages, I landed on a rather large ceramic cup - white on the outside and yellow on the inside- boldly featuring the word “HAPPY”. At that moment, In the midst of all the uncertainty and challenges, I made a pact with myself to read the word on my cup every day , and choose to be happy. I literally chose to see the cup half full ( again) .😀
No, there was not an immediate change, but like seeing and feeling the cumulative effects of a good workout system or a healthy nutrition program; I felt myself begin to lift out of the mind funk. I realized that there were things that I could not change, and things that I could . Instead of spiking my blood pressure over those things I couldn’t change, I had to release them. I focused rather on the blessings and the good things that were present in my life - my faith, my wife and sons, my chocolate lab, sufficient food and plenty of toilet paper, a great employer that allowed me to work from home, and the opportunity to at least SEE my clients on Zoom and Team calls- all of these things, I chose to be grateful for. I began to practice better self care, devoting time to my mental and emotional health, as well as my physical well being. Yeah I was still emotionally exhausted at the end of the day, but I was in a better head space.
All this began with a simple little ( ok, not so little…) HAPPY cup ! What word or theme would you want on your cup ? It’s your choice. Gotta go… HAPPY wants a refill.
I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.
Martha Washington
