Choose Happy… Every Time!
By: Amy Wartham- Director of Corporate Training and Executive Education
August is National Happiness Month. I would argue that every month should be happiness month.
Happiness is an elusive, yet deeply desired state. It’s often perceived as something that happens to us – something that is either present or absent depending on external circumstances. However, this perspective overlooks a fundamental truth: happiness is not just a fleeting emotion that we passively experience but a choice we actively make. Every day we have the choice to be happy.
When your feet hit the floor in the morning, do you mumble, “Crap, another day.” Or “Hell yeah, let’s do this.” (I’m one of those weirdo morning people that annoy the ever-living crap out of everyone else.)
It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy at work: spending time with my team, checking things off my to-do list, ice cream, having productive meetings with our corporate clients, honey-mustard pretzels, developing content that is fun and engaging, a little more ice cream, delivering impactful training programs, etc. I find happiness every day. (And if I’m really being honest, its easier some days than others.)
One of the key aspects of choosing happiness lies in how we perceive our experiences. Life is filled with challenges, setbacks, and unexpected events, but our response to these situations largely determines our level of happiness. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, famously said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” This statement hits hard for me. We have the choice to be happy every day.
Choosing happiness means adopting a mindset that focuses on the positives, even in the face of adversity. (Which I admit is much easier said than done.) It’s about recognizing the silver linings, no matter how small, and allowing them to shape our outlook. By consciously shifting our focus from what’s wrong to what’s right, we can influence our emotional state and, over time, create a more consistently positive experience of life.
Gratitude is also a powerful tool in the pursuit of happiness. When we make it a habit to acknowledge and appreciate the good things in our lives, we shift our attention away from what we lack and towards what we have. This doesn’t mean ignoring problems or pretending everything is perfect, but rather balancing our awareness by recognizing the positives alongside the negatives.
Not to sound like a fortune cookie, but happiness is not a destination, but a journey. Happiness is within your reach – you just have to choose it.
If you’d like to discuss some “happiness” development training for your team, please email me at awartham@charlotte.edu or check out our Course Catalog for our list of program offerings.