There was this time I was at a dinner and a woman came up to me after I spoke on a panel and inquired about my happiness. I wasn’t shocked by this at all. It’s actually something that I am asked about regularly. But there was something about the sheer amazement of her questioning. She wanted to know if I was always “this happy” and if so, how I became that way. She really looked at me as if she was staring at a unicorn or something!
On the panel, I shared about all of my hardships in life, including the loss of my parents and my cancer diagnosis and how I never thought I would have survived them. It really resonated with this woman, as she shared with me her own loss and how there were things that have happened since the loss that brought her joy, but that she’s never been truly happy since experiencing her loss. She wanted to know what was my secret to being so happy, despite everything that I’ve been through.
The truth is: My happiness comes easy for me because I choose to be happy. There is no other way for me. It’s a decision that I purposely decided on and I actively work to be the happiest person I can be. Sounds crazy, right?
When my mother was alive, I often remember her saying to me at various times in my life, “You are such a happy person. I hope you always stay that way.” When she died, I wasn’t prepared at all. It seemingly came out of nowhere and honestly, a part of me died with her — or so I thought.
I thought because I had experienced my father’s death decades before, I would know how to deal with my mother’s death. I knew that it would be painful, but I would learn how to cope and move on without hearing her voice every single day – yes, we spoke every single day.
So, why am I talking so much about death in an article that’s about happiness? Because my near death experience and the death of my parents helped to catapult me to my happiness. It also started a fire within me to live my best life. It gave me a greater understanding that we all will leave this earth. Death is the one thing that will happen and in most cases, we won’t know when or how it will happen.
If reincarnation exists, we surely won’t come back as the same being. So just to be safe, this is the life we have to succeed at, and success comes in many different forms. There is a monetary success and then there is a peace, a sort of joy that comes with knowing that you are where you are supposed to be, doing exactly what you should be doing and living life like you want.