Do What Makes You Happy

That’s why it’s so important to do what makes you happy–as much as you can.

I love to do for others, to be a helper and to give. But I also know that I need to fill up my own cup or I won’t have the energy to fill others’.

It’s kind of a catch-22, that I need to do for myself to be happy, while doing for others also makes me happy. Here’s the thing that people forget about happiness: It’s not just one thing; it’s a journey.

Remember back in your childhood when you thought, If I just (had a dog, get that part in the play, get all A’s, had a boyfriend, could move out) I’d be happy? And then, when it happened, you weren’t as happy as you thought you’d be?

That’s because you thought a destination, an end goal, was going to make you happy. As an adult, you know better. And hopefully you’ve found that all the twists and turns in the journey are what really fill you up with happiness.

I live in that footprint of finding things every single day that fill me up. So that at the end of the day, every day, I can say that I’m truly happy. Things like:

• Playing tennis with one of my kids
• Helping someone
• Visiting a friend
• Calling my mom on the phone
• Reading a book
• Volunteering

But it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. There’s darkness and there’s undesirables in life too. The more you balance that happiness and find the things that give you joy, the easier it will be to move past the ick.

And when something comes up that is less than desirable, being happy means you have the maturity to be able to say no. You don’t always have to do something you don’t want to do, simply because someone asked you. You have permission to weigh the pro’s and con’s and make the decision for yourself.

So many people do things that make them unhappy, simply because they feel obligated to. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be things we do have to do (oil changes, doctor’s appointments, changing the baby’s diaper and the like) but it’s in our power to counter-balance those with the things we love.