This weeks W.I.N.K. - What I now know
Is that Happiness is a Choice
I used to be the type of person who always saw my cup as half empty. I just accepted that if I felt sad about something, then it must be the way I'm "supposed" to feel. I experienced years of allowing myself to be controlled by my emotions, until it consumed me, and had a negative affect on my ability to function within my family and society.
After being in Intensive Care and having a near death experience, I wondered why I wasn’t one of those people that felt enthusiastic at being given a second chance at life. All I felt like is that I had been ripped off. I now know that I was letting my emotions lead me, instead of making a conscious decision to embrace my second chance at life.
I have now come to believe that I can, and have, taken control back. I can simply choose to see my glass as half full. The great thing about doing that, is the feelings and emotions obediently follow along.
I know it sounds too simple, but it does take effort to break those old thought patterns and let the new ones in. Of course we are not all robots on automatic pilot. Sure, we all have our own instincts and gut feelings, and we still need to allow ourselves to feel emotions like sadness, grief and anger. Allowing ourselves to feel these emotions, enables us to release them, learn from them, and let them go. We can choose not to stay within the confines of these emotions, not to get stuck, and to move past them.
In shifting the way I think about my emotions, I have changed my life for the better. I now think and feel stronger in every aspect of my life. Of course, it's still a work in progress for me, but I know now that I do have a choice, and I choose happiness.
Lynda Alderton
For Unity-Qld http://www.unity-qld.com.au
Is that Happiness is a Choice
I used to be the type of person who always saw my cup as half empty. I just accepted that if I felt sad about something, then it must be the way I'm "supposed" to feel. I experienced years of allowing myself to be controlled by my emotions, until it consumed me, and had a negative affect on my ability to function within my family and society.
After being in Intensive Care and having a near death experience, I wondered why I wasn’t one of those people that felt enthusiastic at being given a second chance at life. All I felt like is that I had been ripped off. I now know that I was letting my emotions lead me, instead of making a conscious decision to embrace my second chance at life.
I have now come to believe that I can, and have, taken control back. I can simply choose to see my glass as half full. The great thing about doing that, is the feelings and emotions obediently follow along.
I know it sounds too simple, but it does take effort to break those old thought patterns and let the new ones in. Of course we are not all robots on automatic pilot. Sure, we all have our own instincts and gut feelings, and we still need to allow ourselves to feel emotions like sadness, grief and anger. Allowing ourselves to feel these emotions, enables us to release them, learn from them, and let them go. We can choose not to stay within the confines of these emotions, not to get stuck, and to move past them.
In shifting the way I think about my emotions, I have changed my life for the better. I now think and feel stronger in every aspect of my life. Of course, it's still a work in progress for me, but I know now that I do have a choice, and I choose happiness.
Lynda Alderton
For Unity-Qld http://www.unity-qld.com.au
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