Don't Put Off Happiness Until Tomorrow If You Can Help It Today

If you want to be happy tomorrow, you must strive towards it today. This is not to simply look over the fact that there are many people who are depressed, and can't help it; sometimes I am one of those people. On the days when I feel stronger, however, I try to take advantage of that strength if I'm able. Some people linger through their lives, expecting happiness to arrive on its own, but it never comes. Others make an endeavor to create wealth but still aren't happy, learning that money only brings a whole new set of problems. Happiness is a state of mind. It is certainly not the amount of money that you have in your bank account. Happiness is something that is felt from within, and cannot be physically touched. Each individual needs to work on creating his or her own happiness.

I like how Richard Bach put it when he said, "If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem."
To find happiness, you first have to understand where happiness comes from. Memories are to the mind what a mirror is to the eyes – a reflection. The mirror reflects the physical while our memories reflect the emotional. When you look in the mirror, it reflects what you look like; when you look in your mind it reflects who you are. One big difference between the two is that you can change what you see in the mirror but you can't change the memories reflected in your mind.

We tend to spend a lot of time trying to enhance what we see in the mirror, but little or no effort trying to revise or improve our thoughts. Everything we do, and everything that happens around us, creates a memory. Do you really think that the person who is bitter and upset today was filled with joy yesterday? If a person does something that perturbs or angers us, we can either add to the unpleasant memory with our own negative actions, or we can replace them with positive actions and create uplifting memories.

If you want to be joyful tomorrow, you must carefully choose what you do today. Everything you do today will be in tomorrow's reflection. In other words, today's actions will be reflected in tomorrow's memories, and you cannot make them disappear. The next time a person frustrates you, instead of acting out, try imagining that you are holding up a mirror that bounces the reflection back at him, knowing that his actions or words are a reflection of him and not of you.

We all want to be happy with what we see in the actual mirror. To be truly happy, we also have to like what we see reflected in our minds. What the mirror reflects is not nearly as powerful as what the mind reflects, for it reflects our words and actions.

What will your memories be filled with? Will your memories be filled with cheerfulness and joy or with resentment and anger? What have you done today that will bring you happiness tomorrow?

"Take care of all your memories, for you cannot relive them." - Bob Dylan