My whole life I wondered how it is that, all things being equal, two people in the same situation can be happy and unhappy, respectively.

It puzzled me how people gravitated toward happiness in dire situations, while others, who seemingly had everything, were constantly depressed.

Several months ago I stopped wondering and started searching by conducting what you all know as the Happiness Project ^[1], a series of interviews with 34 notable people about the subject of happiness. This snowballed into a venture in which over 60 people answered the questions for us using their own blogs.

I took a look at all of the responses, compared them to definitions of happiness within different cultures and religions, and attended a landmark education event called “creating happiness”. At this point my definition of happiness is as clear as it’s ever been and I’m very happy to be able to share it with you.

“Happiness is being the creator of your experience, choosing to take pleasure in what you have, right now, regardless of the circumstances, while being the best you that you can be.”
~Alex Shalman

If you go ahead and sit with this definition for a while I am very confident that you will see the simplicity of it. Keep in mind that it’s pretty easy to be happy when everything is going your way. It takes real strength and courage to be happy in the face of difficulties.

By becoming the creators we are taking responsibility for our own happiness. The essential step is realizing that we can be happy regardless of the circumstances or situations that we find ourselves in. It doesn’t take the right person, place, or thing in order to bring the happiness to us. It certainly does not take the right situation.

In fact, we can be happy without needing a situation to be happy for! By really getting present to the fact that we are the ones that put meaning to everything in our lives, we are able to put the meaning of happiness into our lives at will.

The simple fact that happiness is a choice means that making the decision to be happy means you are happy. If you’re too busy to make that split second decision, then you can receive happiness as a side effect of being the best you that you can be. The caveat is that both being happy and being the best you that you can be leads to an overall better life. You don’t have to choose between one or the other. Do both. Be happy and be the best you that you can be.

“When you’re working on being happy, you are the type of person that created the possibility that you are not currently happy.”
~Roger Smith (Landmark Education)

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Photo by makelessnoise ^[2]

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