When I think of July 4th, one word comes to mind… Freedom.

The Declaration of Independence essentially established that to be independent from England was vital to a flourishing future. In turn, I believe the key to your happiness in all things is… “to be independent from.”

In fact the biggest lesson of my life was learning that I could be happy, independent of circumstance.

While it was a concept I often heard and intellectually accepted, it took me a loooong time to take it to heart. Surely, there are certain circumstances that validate being “unhappy?”

First of all, I find it interesting that I would defend the right to be unhappy! Hmmm… but there I was.

Secondly, my experience going through my messy separation and divorce, health challenges of a close family member, foreclosure of a home and subsequent financial challenges deeply changed my perspective on happiness — hopefully forever.

I was so utterly emotionally stripped of my old way of defending myself that I began to find joy in the most random places. What once were big deals, no longer held the punch they once did. And, bit by bit, day by day, I was laughing instead of crying...

So visceral was the shift that it sparked my desire with The Joy Blog Weekly™ to spread the word about discovering joy through your everyday life, and in turn being happy in your world, independent of circumstance.

Abraham Lincoln famously said; “Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” I would agree, with a little twist… I’ve made up my mind not to be happy, but, to look for the joy and humor in every situation. When I do that, happiness is a certain by-product.

If you run around demanding happiness chances are you will be met with great disappointment. Consider instead, letting go of needing to be unhappy just because you can build a case for it — and instead develop a willingness to experience people and situations with an alternate perspective.

However, if you perhaps let go of your old ideas of what happiness means, and start to look for all the goodness, grace and hilarity that surrounds you, I suspect not only will you be happy, but, you will be happy, independent of circumstance.

There is no greater freedom than that.

Have a beautiful day, pass it on and remember I am most definitely in your corner…

Love,
Thais

Image courtesy of photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos​.net

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