You Deserve Happiness

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead; tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I am going to be happy in it.” – Grouch Marx. 

Is April “How to be Happy month?” I know April is the month we pay our taxes (topic for a future note). The funny thing is, I have seen numerous articles on “Being Happy” this month. Since I said happiness would be my topic last month, I consider myself ahead of the curve!

 Does money have anything to do with our happiness? This is a great question, and am I even qualified to answer it? What I can do is share some observations. As a financial advisor, I serve successful, intelligent people just like you, whom you would think are some of the luckiest people in the world, yet they tell me how unhappy they are.  

 We have all been graced with some amount of Health, Money, Friends, Family, Community, Freedom, and Experiences. We don’t all have the same amounts of each, but we all have something in each category. I am convinced that these categories are the building blocks of happiness. What continually baffles me is why we ignore or take for granted these incredible gifts. 

 I am reminded of the scene in the Wizard of Oz when, right before Dorothy returns to Kansas, the Wizard is handing out the items each character so deeply longed for. Brains for the Scarecrow, Bravery for the Lion, and a Heart for the Tin Man. What each received from the Wizard was something they already had, but for some reason, their self-doubt told them they didn’t. Like Bravery, Heart, and Brains, Happiness is always there. I am convinced the problem is we have decided we don’t deserve to be happy. 

 We believe someone needs to grant us permission or say we have earned happiness. I have donned my Wizard hat, pulled back the curtain, and declared you have permission to be happy.

 Here is my thought – stop skating through life, pay attention, celebrate all you have accomplished, deal with those things that do not go as planned, learn from them, and move on. Stop discounting the value and happiness afforded you because of your unique combination of Health, Money, Friends, Family, Community, Freedom, and Experiences. There is no room for self-doubt anymore! 

 Instead of you having to find happiness, happiness will find you. Want more? Let’s talk about it. 

 To Living the Good Life. 

Jeff