Is Happiness A Choice?

The key to happiness has been disputed throughout history, though it is often overthought: “Is it family, is it love, is it money?” But what if it was just a decision you could make? Happiness is a choice and is accessible to all. The only thing that limits happiness is one’s willpower to get to it and around obstacles that might hinder it.

Happiness is nothing but a state of mind and states of mind can be altered at will. Just like how you can be sad by thinking about death, you can make yourself happy by reminiscing on a fond memory. Happiness, as a passive feeling, is more so affected by your mindset. If you dwell on the death of a close friend, rather than pondering on how much they meant to you, you will find yourself worse off.

If you just look at the world and the past in a more positive light and allow yourself to see past pessimism, a passive, more stable sense of happiness is present. Sure, sometimes bad things happen and happiness seems miles away, but people have walked miles for hundreds of thousands of years. 

On a more scientific note, happiness is just a flood of certain chemicals to your brain. So if one were to do something mentally to trigger a release of those chemicals, it would further prove that happiness is a choice. Multiple studies have shown that just the simple act of smiling makes people happier. Why? Since you smile when you are happy, your brain associates smiling with the release of endorphins that make people happy and can be used as a method of becoming happy.

With negativity constantly surrounding us, constant hardships, and reminders of a past which we wish not to dwell upon, it makes it all the more important to realize that our minds are what barricade us from happiness. With a willingness to change how you see the world, the people around you, and even yourself, happiness will be more clear than ever, a choice.

If you are struggling to find happiness, reach out to me for help through depression therapy.