The Happy Place

The other day I heard someone say they can’t wait to leave here and get to their happy place.

“Where is your happy place?” I asked.

“A beach far away from here.”

We all want to change how we feel. However, we convince ourselves that the good feelings we seek are out there– on a beach.

But what if that beach is 100 miles away? And what if you don’t leave for another three weeks?

Can you find happiness and peace right here, right now?

Can we condition ourselves to be happy and at peace anywhere? Standing line at Walmart? Sitting in traffic? Having a difficult conversation?

I believe we can.

But it takes real work. It requires you to not let your external environment to control internal happiness.

So how can we make any place our happy place?

Self-help guru Tony Robbins suggests making a list of ways we can immediately change how we feel, to go from pain to pleasure, and feel good immediately.

Maybe its holding hands with your spouse. Smiling with your children. Playing music. Taking a walk. Taking a moment to admire nature. Or simply replaying a pleasant memory.

The point is– your happy place is not at the end of the highway. You don’t have to pay tolls to find peace.

Happiness and peace are in you.

They always have been.

Be well,

Jay

Here’s an excerpt from recent post: My wife (and Bill Belichick) taught me something this week

This is not news–teachers are not paid like football players. But to be an effective teacher or football player, you must be willing to work when no one is watching.

For me–a teacher, a writer, and a man living with my broken brain I know this truth all too well. Action, hard work, dedication to your personal betterment is how you make the best of the opportunities life gives you.

For better or worse, things will change. Life will transition. We will earn new jobs, acquire new relationships, discover new passions.

Whatever your circumstance– you owe it to yourself to do your job well.

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