Do you ever catch yourself saying or thinking “I’ll be happy when…” and then finish that sentence with absolutely anything that first comes to mind?
I used to think that I would be happy when….
- We had a specific amount of money saved for the future
- We had completed a specific house project/ home renovation
- I fit into a specific size of clothing
I eventually learned that I didn’t have to wait for any of those things to happen. I could decide to be happy right now. I could choose happiness. I could choose to be content and grateful and love where I currently was in my life in this very moment.
Sure, I can still work towards any of the above items on that list. It’s just that I’m not going to let those items be something hanging over my head of a reminder of where I need to be in order to be happy.
Chris and I have been slowly working on various projects around our home. We’ve removed the carpet from our stairs, painted all the walls (twice), tiled the laundry room, whitewashed our fireplace, and most recently we’ve just finished painting our kitchen cabinets white. Eventually, we plan on replacing our counter tops with one that has an overhang to create a breakfast bar area. I often found myself saying, I’ll be so happy when we have new counters and the kids can have breakfast here each morning.
And you know what? We decided to buy 2 stools to see how we’d like them and how they’d fit in the spot where our breakfast bar is going to be. The coolest thing happened. We started using the area as if it had a countertop overhang. The kids have breakfast in this spot every morning and they sit here for their after-school snack each afternoon. I am currently sitting at the counter right now as I’m typing on my laptop. You see, we didn’t actually need to get the new counter for us to be happy. We just started using that space differently and as a result, it has been awesome. We are essentially pretending we have a breakfast bar and we love it!
So, my advice for you today is to stop waiting for certain circumstances to come to fruition for you to finally decide that it’s time for you to be happy. You can be happy. Right. Now.
Take a look around and think about 3 things that you’re thankful for. Guaranteed gratitude will help to move the wheels of happiness into motion.
Have a wonderful day!
Jillian
