Happiness is a Choice

[BigV]

Happiness is a choice, in my opinion.

Good health isn't as much of a choice as it's not possible to will oneself to be well, or to avoid illness, either physical or mental. I'm not a social worker or a psychologist or anything like a mental (or physical) health professional. But I do believe that happiness is rooted in one's response to events, not in the events themselves. And to the degree to which I'm able to control my own reaction, to *choose* my own response to my circumstances, I do believe that happiness is a choice.

Hmmm... let me try to say it another way. I *feel* happy when I recognize the good things in my life. When my focus is on the things that are not going well, happy is, heh, not what I feel. So, happiness is a feeling that I can make more likely for me to experience when I act a certain way. And I do believe my actions are active choices. They're not always good choices, they're not always thoughtful choices, they may be habitual choices, but they're choices I've made.