Is Happiness a Choice or is it Out of Our Control?

Happiness is important for many reasons. Being happier can generally lead to a better lifestyle. Happiness can cause people to become more energetic, creative, friendly and fun to be around and can often lead to a person becoming more financially successful. Being a happier person will also make those around you much happier. It’s hard to stay mad when those around you are beaming with positive energy.

Being happy and staying positive plays an essential part in achieving our lifelong goals and dreams. Imagine a world where, as soon as we get knocked down, we stay down and never get back up and try again. Success comes when you take a positive approach to every set back. If we latch on to positivity and keep a grip on it even through the toughest times, we can achieve great things much faster and much more often. 

Happiness has a knock on effect. They say laughter is contagious, well so is happiness. If you walk past someone and they ignore you, it may not make you feel happy, but if you walk past someone and they smile at you, it instantly brightens your day and you’ll feel much happier. You’ll then likely pass that positive energy on to someone else, and so on. Even still, we seek to answer: is happiness a choice?

Happier people tend to lead much more exhilarating lifestyles. When unhappiness takes over a person’s life, they tend to mope around and have little energy for anything else. Happier people tend to have a lot more energy, and so those people will spend more time doing exciting things and going on adventures. 

Being happy is great for your health, both physically and mentally. Unhappiness often leads to stress, anxiety and even depression. Focusing on being a happier person can help you avoid any of those physical and mental challenges that come with negative thinking. Happiness is good for your soul, your mind and your body. But, this still begs the question of: is happiness a choice?

This certainly ins't the first time the question 'is happiness a choice?' has been asked? We argue that happiness is a choice. We know there are people out there that will completely disagree with this theory. There will be people reading this thinking “wait, if happiness is a choice, why am I not happy?”. The answer is simple, you’re not happy because you chose to be something other than happy, like sad or angry. We can choose to replace these sad or angry thoughts with happier thoughts if we really think about it. 

Let’s say you’re out walking along a road. A car comes flying past at high speed and as the wheel hits the puddle next to you, of course, you get completely soaked in puddle water. This will probably elicit a reaction from you, most likely to be anger.

But why are you angry? It’s just a bit of water. You can easily go home and change into dry clothes and it’ll be like nothing happened. What if it had started raining, would you have been as mad as you were at the car driving past and wetting you? Most likely, you wouldn’t. And that’s where the question of Is happiness a choice and the debate really kicks in. 

As humans, we learn particular behaviours to be the norm and anger is a ‘normal’ reaction. But what if we changed our angry thoughts, to happy thoughts? It’s easily done and by choosing to change our thought processes, we can all lead much happier lives. Thus, the answer to the question of is happiness a choice is, yes. If you make an effort to choose it.

For happiness to be obtained, we need to rid ourselves of all of the current negative energy within, and be open and willing to accept the concept of true happiness. Being happy is a state of mind that can be achieved more easily than you may think. 

As humans we tend to be generally happy, but we allow outside factors to make us unhappy. In order to be happier, we need to control those outside factors and stop them from turning our positives into negatives. Instead of fixating on how bad something has made you feel, just forget about it and move on. Thinking negatively about any situation isn’t going to change its outcome. Things happen, and we all get on with our lives. That’s how life works. 

It’s the same with worry. No matter how much you worry and worry and worry about something, the outcome will always be the same. Save yourself the hassle and stress of worrying and just focus on what’s at the other end. For example, let’s say you’re going on holiday but you’re terrified of flying. Instead of focussing all your energy on worrying about the flight, instead focus on the destination and what an amazing time you’re going to have when you get there. 

Any negative situation can be turned into a positive if we really thing about it. If you’re upset about something, don’t dwell on the feelings of sadness. Instead focus on what’s making you sad and find a way to turn it into a positive. Look forward into a brighter future. If you turn all your negative energy into positive energy, think of everything you could achieve with all that positivity. 

Turning negatives into positives might not sound like the easiest thing to do, but if you really focus and make an effort then being a happy person is easier than you think. No-one can make you feel unhappy if you don’t let them. 

Humans have a tendency to blame others for the way we feel. “My boss makes me so mad”, “You’re getting on my nerves”, “Why are you so annoying?” - Your boss is only making you mad because you’re letting his/her actions affect you in a negative way. That person is only getting on your nerves because you’re letting them. That person is only annoying you because you’re allowing their actions to annoy you. Do you see where I’m going with this? 

Smiling is a great way to make you and others feel happier. Try to smile more in every day life and I can guarantee you will notice a difference in how you feel. Not only will you feel happier in yourself, but you’ll seem more approachable to other people, which will perhaps spark new friendships and conversations with strangers. People who socialise often tend to be happier than those who don’t, so wear a smile and see what happens. 

Spending time with friends, family and loved ones can instantly boost your happiness. Being around people you love can be extremely mood-boosting. Spend time with the people who make you laugh and who care about you. Even if you lead a very busy lifestyle, it’s important to take that time out to spend time with those who care about you. You’ll feel more loved and much happier.

Complimenting others is a great way to boost your happiness. Not only will you feel good for having brightened someone’s day, they will often give you a compliment in return. You can never feel unhappy when receiving a compliment. It’s an easy happiness boost. 

Exercising is one of the number one happiness boosters out there. Exercise releases endorphins that interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce pain and trigger a positive bodily reaction. Not only does exercise give you a positivity boost, it’s also known to reduce stress and is a proven remedy for both depression and anxiety. No matter what you choose to do, whether it’s a fast run, lifting weights, doing yoga or even just taking a brisk walk with your friends. Any type of exercise is great for giving you a quick boost of instant happiness. 

Finally, our moods can be easily boosted by simply doing things we enjoy. Listen to your favourite music, watch your favourite movie, spend some time on your favourite hobby. Doing more of what you enjoy is an easy way to boost your overall happiness and is great for keeping your mind off anything that is bringing negativity into your life.