The Happiness Project, 2 Weeks In!

Hello fathers, I found this quote and it resonated with me by Abraham Lincoln, and it holds as true today as it did in his time.

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” Abraham Lincoln

That quote sparked some deep thinking on myside and aligns with several books I have read lately such as “Attitude Is Everything,” “Unfuck Yourself,” Limitless,” and “Motivation Manifesto“. You control how your happiness is impacted, it is you who chooses how to react to the impacts and responses of life. We can either look at it positive or negative and that outlook and decision impacts our happiness. It seems so simple, yet is extremely hard!

These last 2 weeks have been a lot around that theme, I had surgery, more intense then I allowed myself to believe, and had to make a choice, bitch and moan, or think positive and think of the outcome. There were many failures in managing that mindset, but I fought, I laid in my thoughts and pain, but determined it would be a new start and a promising future and think positively. I made it through the initial days, and it started to get better.

Then I went back to work, and the drama, stress, and politics go to me again, and I felt myself going back down the negative spiral I often find myself in lately. It started to consume me, I was angry, unfiltered, and in pain. One evening last week, worked frustrated me so much I was told to isolate myself and get air, that walk helped immensely, it made me think with myself alone (scary place to be), but I really reflected on my anger, the events, and how do I move past this…

There was no great epiphany, stating this is it the path to eternal happiness, but it was a reflection. I control how I allow things to impact me, hell, I literally read 5 books stating this, but sometimes it just doesn’t sink until a particular moment. I would like to stand her and state, this allowed me balance and now I am some wise monk, nope I still failed a lot, still am even this morning, but what changed was not letting it linger, as I so often do.

I am working on smiling more, and not allowing negative events to linger, if I can achieve this, it is a major win. In order to keep my reminder, I pinned my rules and guideline for my happiness project in my face by my computer so I see it constantly. I am smiling at myself in the mirror and stating something positive out loud about myself, my wife, and my children. I will continue to fight for my happiness, and be better to report out.

Fathers, my plead to you is find something to keep you grounded and reminded of your blessings, life can wear you down, especially in today’s world, stay connected and happy. I hope to hear from you all on what you have found to help in your lives, or great books!

For reference: The Happiness Project