Being happy can be hard work sometimes.....

Being happy can be hard work sometimes. It is like maintaining a nice home - you've got to hang on to your treasures and throw out the garbage.

Being happy requires looking for the good things. One person sees the beautiful view and the other sees the dirty window. Choose what you see and what you think.

Do you recall watching "boy meet girl" movies? Titanic would be a famous example. As the boy and girl struggle through thick and thin, you hoped and prayed the whole time that everything would work out even in the outcome of imminent doom. We gulped and dried our tears as the curtains came down. We cry at these movies because at our deepest level, we care. We hurt. There is an inner core in all of us, which is simply beautiful. When we see the plight of the starving around the globe on TV, we ache for them. We all care.

Accept that you have these capacities to love and emphasize and be HUMAN. Recognize your own worth and constantly remind yourself that you deserved to be treated well!

To learn to walk, we must risk falling over. To make a dollar, we must risk losing it. In loving and caring, we risk breaking our hearts. Getting a job is a risk. Crossing the road is a risk. Starting a family is a risk. Life is a risk. Winners take more risk than losers. That is why they win so much. Necessarily then, winners lose more than losers, but they are playing so often that their wins add up. We have a choice between living and merely existing.

COMPLIMENTS
Ever notice how good you feel when you give a compliment? Even if people are awkward in receiving them, they appreciate them. When we make it a habit to GIVE genuine compliments, we'll always be looking out for the good in people.

TWO HAPPINESS TRAP
We postpone our happiness - " I'll be happy when...."(When the house is paid off, when we go to Phuket, Bali, or Hawaii, when I find a better job...) We look back to the past and say, "If I have known today was going to be so awful, I would have been happy yesterday." HAPPINESS is not a when - Happiness is a NOW.

WORK
Lots of people will tell you, "I'll be happier if my job was easier." But when work gets easier, they quit, and look for another challenge. The truth is, we love challenge. Let's stop kidding ourselves! Nearly every job is repetitious. Often, the secret to enjoying a job is not to change your job but to change your ATTITUDE.

LAW OF PROGRESS
Everything has ups and downs - nothing travels in straight lines. This applies to your own progress in any project. Keep your eye on your target; keep putting in the effort and you reach your target despite the ups and downs. Successful people realize that they reach their goals by continuously correcting. We get off course, correct, and get back on course. Ships do it. Rockets and missiles do it. Correct. Correct. Correct.

LEARNING FROM CHILDREN
Spend time with children. Learn more about laughter, spontaneity, curiosity, acceptance, resilience, trust, determination, and your imagination.

The key to happiness is not that you never get upset, frustrated or irritated. It is how quickly you decide to snap out of it. Happiness is not dependent on your circumstances or your bank balance. Happiness is a DAILY DECISION.