True happiness grows when we’re in control of who we choose to be in any given moment.

Let’s talk about finding true happiness, regardless of circumstance. I should explain that my definition of true happiness might be different than yours. In fact, I HOPE it’s different than yours. Happiness must be self defined to have any true meaning. Happiness is not fleeting or momentary, as compared to savoring an amazing meal or spending time with our closest friends. Those moments of joy or happiness are great, but TRUE happiness is a LASTING happiness. It comes from deep within ourselves. It is something that doesn’t go away or depend on any outside experience or occasion.

True happiness grows when we’re in control of who we choose to be in any given moment.

As a result of those choices, happiness blooms as a direct result of the actions we take. If we can find, through our actions and who we’re choosing to be, that our sense of inner peace and happiness is strongly present, then nothing outside of ourselves can take that away from us. Take it a step further, and it’s obvious that blocks to our happiness can never, ever come from anything outside of ourselves because happiness is experienced from the inside out.

I am confident that all of you have or will face tremendous obstacles in your life, whether through cancer or illness, tremendous pain, loss of a loved one, financial hardship, legal situations, betrayal of people and friends…I could go on and on. Whatever you have or will face, it is a natural part of the human experience. If we can take one step toward expecting the unexpected, we allow ourselves to see challenges as opportunities for growth and greater fulfillment.

Let’s go even further and look at this from the broadest perspective. Once we enter this world, we enter a physical experience to which the end result is death – we know that there is no way to change that. We’re here – and we know the end of this story, the end of this movie, the END is basically the end of our physical life. This is a topic that not a lot of people like to talk about, but I promise that this isn’t going to be a morbid discussion.

We need to start with Death in order to have a clear framework for life.

A story without an end isn’t really a story. We need a place where the chapter will complete, or the story will transition. I talked in the Manual For Living series about the end of our physical life, which we know doesn’t mean the end of our soul for our soul lives on forever. Our physical existence is the one that we’re focusing on, it is the reason we are here.

This is what the Manual For Living series is all about. It’s about our physical experience, how we relate to this physical life, how we relate to money, and managing time, money, and priorities as we seek our fullest expression of happiness and fulfillment. If we can look forward, and powerfully accept that we will eventually die, then in this very moment we have the opportunity to fully live and express our gratitude along the way. We are free to TRULY LIVE, to discern what will create the most joy for ourselves and for those around us, every day and in every moment, no matter what outside occasions may arise.

We are here to do our part, to follow our path and to listen to our truth – courageously and powerfully. We can always pause our life, find a sense of peace, and listen to our truth. In our outer world, we can start by focusing on improving the areas of our life, and as we do we will find that we migrate closer to that often elusive holy grail of personally defined happiness and fulfillment.

Until next time, many blessings!

Seth David Chernoff