It's all in the mind...

Today, happiness is… well it’s my birthday J Do you like your birthdays? Or do you have another special day in the year that makes you feel different? It seems so obvious that some days might just make you feel happy. But have you ever thought more deeply about what’s really going on? How do you know to feel happy on that day? How do I know to feel happy on my birthday?

For me, it’s about a day that’s just mine, and I choose not to do anything that’s like work. I usually see my children, even though they are now grown up. For some of you, a day away from the children would be more of a treat! Such facts reveal that there are two separate things going on: the external event, and the “feeling” – which is something that we generate inside ourselves. Clearly, the outside event cannot make you happy all by itself; you have to do something on the inside.

That begs that question – how do you know to feel happy? Or unhappy? Or to bring on any other feeling state? Obviously, it’s bound up with what things mean to you, individually. If you had a different meaning, then it would change the internal response that you generate.

Now that is interesting. Because most of us go about trying to change external circumstances to feel better. But how much control do you have over the people and circumstances of your life? What if you learned to change your response to them? Well, it can be done more easily than you realise. The ways and means for internal change are so varied and widely available these days – more so than at any time in our history. Happiness? It’s all in the mind.