“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.” – Charles Spurgeon.
Isn’t it sad how much time and energy we waste in the pursuit of happiness? We convince ourselves that if are able to achieve our current goals we will finally be happy. Perhaps that goal is a job promotion, new house or car, or even fame and fortune. Unfortunately this kind of happiness, although very real, never lasts. We are constantly striving for bigger and better. So our pursuit of happiness is a never ending, exhaustive, elusive pursuit.
Have you ever noticed how some people have so much and yet they remain unfulfilled and unhappy; while others who have so little are genuinely happy? I believe this can be attributed to the attitudes of the heart. If you focus on what you don’t have you will continually feel discontent but if your focus is on what you do have you will always feel content.
Our mind-set hugely impacts our lives and has far reaching effects. We can easily fall into a pattern of seeing only the negative and by so doing we will start to feel negative; which will inevitably cause us to become very miserable individuals. The opposite is also true; if we make a habit of focusing on the good, we will start to feel good and choosing happiness becomes instinctive.
Time is precious. How sad it is when you reflect and wish you had enjoyed various times in your life. You wish you had looked at things from a positive perspective and seen the good instead of the bad, and you really wish you had chosen to be happy instead of miserable.
The fact of the matter is that true, sustainable happiness is not something we can achieve but rather it is a choice. We need to choose to be positive rather than negative. To remain hopeful regardless of the circumstances and challenges we are faced with and to adopt an attitude of gratitude.
The age old saying that true happiness comes from within, is undoubtedly true. Success we work for, but happiness is a choice! Choose to be happy, turn your frown upside down.
It is also true that the happier we are the healthier we are. This is because we aren’t stressed all the time and the natural balance of the body is maintained through peace. Disease is the result of internal dis-ease. Proverbs 17:22 tells us, “A glad heart makes a healthy body, but a crushed spirit makes the bones dry.”
Every day of life that we are blessed with we have a choice to make, to be either happy or sad. Embrace life and it will embrace you. What we fill our minds with will ultimately affect our choice. If we fill our minds with negative thoughts we make choosing happiness so much more difficult.
Staying positive isn’t always easy but it is always worth it. When you look at what is right instead of what is wrong then choosing happiness becomes the natural choice.
I wrote the ‘Un-hap-puppy’ book to show children the importance of looking for the good in things. The story highlights the consequences of a negative attitude and the value of a positive one. Theo the unhappy puppy helps children to understand why they should always look for the good in things and shows them that they can choose to be happy.
Playing with words is part of the fun and in this book the words ‘unhappy’ and ‘puppy’ have been put together to make a playful word ‘un-hap-puppy’ – which means a puppy that is unhappy.
Although this book forms part of the ‘Farm-tastic’ series, it is a stand-alone story and is available individually from Amazon and various other leading online retailers. I hope the story will inspire little ones to be positive, happy individuals. To realize they must work hard at achieving success but that happiness is a choice. Don’t delay get your copy of ‘Un-hap-puppy’ today.
If you have read and enjoyed this story please show your support by leaving a review. Any blog or book related feedback and questions are always welcome. I would love to hear from you. Please share photographs of your children enjoying my books by posting them on my website and/or my Jacqui Shepherd Children’s Author Facebook Page.
Make story time a special time. Happy reading!
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle.
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