Do You Really Want to be Happy?

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 2

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Before we talk any more about being happy, I have to know if you WANT to be happy.  Are you content being miserable?  Do you think you will be taken more seriously if you are glum?  Are you worried you won't get your point across if you aren't angry?  Is being a martyr too satisfying?  Are you so deep in depression that you don't think it will ever change, so you've given up trying?  

These are real feelings, folks.  Have I felt this way?  Let's see:  yes, yes, oh yes, no comment, and a big depressed YES.  But yes, you can be happy and win arguments, you can happily stick up for yourself, you can be happy and important, and it is completely possible to dig out of depression and get to happiness.

If unhappy is where you really want to be, I can't do anything for you.  Just keep doing whatever it is that you've been doing that got you where you are.  I can't change you - only you can.  If, on the other hand, you do want to try something to help you breathe easier, or if you just tell people that things are ducky (while inside you're crying to get out of your dim emotional dungeons), then let's see what we can do.

Think for just a moment about being happy.  Remember that we aren't necessarily talking about Mrs. Cleaver or Mayberry happy here.  Just a peaceful, smiling satisfaction about ourselves, our families, and life in general.  If that's what you want, or what you might be willing to try, then you have to try something different.  We have to change something in order to change where we are, and this change isn't scary - it's exciting!

We'll have to murder the martyr.  We'll put away the sackcloth and ashes, and lock away the long faces.  We can do this, and it is worth it.

Just for today... smile.  Smile as much as you can.  Smile until it hurts - we are building happy muscles here, folks.  It doesn't matter how tiny it might be to start with, or even if you have to plaster on a plastic smile because you don't feel like working up a real one.  Just pull up the corners of your mouth and smile.