A couple of weeks ago I wrote about things we can do to generate Happiness in our lives. Today I want to write about things we SHOULD NOT DO if we want to be happy.

As a Dale Carnegie Instructor for over 40 years ("How to Win Friends and Influence People") I've had the opportunity to hear a lot about life, from the perspective of those LIVING it, that life is not something you postpone for the future but rather something you design into the present. Here are some things that happy people DO NOT do:
(1) They do not mind other people's business, and stop looking at where they are and what they have. Sometimes the reason we may struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind- the-scenes circumstances with everyone else's public highlights. So we don't need to listen to the noise of the world. We just need to listen to our own inner voice and mind our own business;
(2) Happy people don't seek validation of self-worth from others. When we are content to simply be ourselves, without trying to impress others, most everyone will respect us. Those who accept us are our friends;
(3) Happy people don't rely on others and external events for happiness. Unhappiness lies in that gap between what we have now and what we think we need.
(4) The truth is we don't need to acquire more to be content with what we already have. We don't need anyone else's permission to be happy. Your life is magnificent, not because someone else says it is, or because you have acquired something new, but because YOU CHOOSE to see it as such. Happiness is ours to choose to live and experience.
(5) Happy people don't hold onto resentment. Let today be the day you stop being haunted by the ghosts from the past. We have all been hurt, by our own decisions , and by decisions of others, but forgiveness is the remedy. To understand the infinite potential of everything going forward we need to forgive everything already behind us. Without forgiveness, wounds can never be healed.

That doesn't mean we're erasing the past, or forgetting what happened. It does mean we're letting go of the resentment and pain and choosing to move on with our life. NOW is the moment of power we have to be happy. All hopes for the future, and memories of the past, only exist NOW. This is the moment where the past and the future comes together. |In the final analysis, happiness is all about making others happy, and it can be done with expressions of love, a smile, a hug, a kiss, or just a kind word. So let's be happy today!

Now to close with humor: A man climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai and gets close enough to talk with God. Looking up, he asks the Lord, "God, what does a million years mean to you?" The Lord replies, "A minute." The man then asks, "And what does a million dollars mean to you!" The Lord replies, "A penny." The man perks up and asks, "So, can I have a penny?", to which the Lord replies, "In a minute...."

HAVE A GREAT DAY!