Sep 12 2007
Fifth of Seven Decisions
Andy Andrews in his Fifth of Seven Decisions from The Traveler’s Gift explains how a simple smile will help keep those negative thoughts from your mind. When you smile at someone, whether they are a friend or a stranger, you will receive a smile in return. When you smile your body and your mind react with a joyous spirit and it is a choice we should all do every day. Happiness is a choice.
THE JOYFUL DECISION
Today I will choose to be happy.
Beginning this very moment, I am a happy person, for I now truly understand the concept of happiness. Few others before me have been able to grasp the truth of the physical law that enables one to live happily every day. I know now that happiness is not an emotional phantom floating in and out of my life. Happiness is a choice. Happiness is the end result of certain thoughts and activities, which actually bring about a chemical reaction in my body. This reaction results in a euphoria, which, while elusive to some, is totally under my control.
Today I will choose to be happy. I will greet each day with laughter.
Within moments of awakening, I will laugh for seven seconds. After even such a small period of time, excitement has begun to flow through my bloodstream. I feel different. I am different! I am enthusiastic about the day. I am alert to its possibilities. I am happy!
Laughter is an outward expression of enthusiasm, and I know that enthusiasm is the fuel that moves the world. I laugh throughout the day. I laugh while I am alone, and I laugh in conversation with others. People are drawn to me because I have laughter in my heart. The world belongs to the enthusiastic for people will follow them anywhere!
Today I will choose to be happy. I will smile at every person I meet.
My smile has become my calling card. It is, after all, the most potent weapon I possess. My smile has the strength to forge bonds, break ice, and calm storms. I will use my smile constantly. Because of my smile, the people with whom I come in contact on a daily basis will choose to further my causes and follow my leadership. I will always smile first. That particular display of a good attitude will tell others what I expect in return.
My smile is the key to my emotional make up. A wise man once said, “I do not sing because I am happy; I am happy because I sing!” When I choose to smile, I become the master of my emotions.
Discouragement, despair, frustration, and fear will always wither when confronted by my smile. The power of who I am is displayed when I smile.
Today I will choose to be happy. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit.
In the past, I have found discouragement in particular situations, until I compared the condition of my life to others less fortunate. Just as a fresh breeze cleans smoke from the air, so does a grateful spirit remove the cloud of despair. It is impossible for the seeds of depression to take root in a thankful heart.
My God has bestowed upon me many gifts, and for these I will remember to be grateful. Too many times I have offered up the prayers of a beggar, always asking for more and forgetting my thanks. I do not wish to be seen as a greedy child, unappreciative, and disrespectful. I am grateful for sight and sound and breath. If ever in my life there is a pouring out of blessings beyond that, then I will be grateful for the miracle of abundance.
I will greet each day with laughter. I will smile at every person I meet. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit.
Today I will choose to be happy.
I feel the same way. I try to do this everyday, give someone a smile, rather than a fround. It makes the world a brighter place.
Hi Willa
You are right, the world is a brighter place with a smile.
It truly is amazing how a smile can change you and the people around you. When life sometimes seems a little hard and your heart seems empty, it is possible to change, even if it may be only for a moment. That one moment can and will cascade and your day will become brighter. Everyone has joyous moments in their life, keep those thoughts, a smile will form and you will begin to feel better.