Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Get Rid of the Green


I've been talking about a lot of how to promote happiness, but sometimes thoughts creep into our minds that make it hard to be happy? One of the biggest of these is jealousy. You see the seemingly endless supply of your friend's clothes, or the expensive furniture in your neighbor's house, or all the dates that girl in school seems to have all the time and before you know it you're green with envy. So how do you combat the feelings that threaten to destroy your happiness.

First, it's very important to remember that happiness is a choice. No one can give you happiness, but no one can take it away either. Second, stop comparing. Comparison always leads to misery in some form or another. It's also unfair. We tend to either compare our worst with another's best, or our best with another's worst. It's never a good idea to think that someone has the perfect life just because they have more of something than we do. But it's also wrong to think that we have it all and everyone else should be jealous of us.

Quit the comparisons, and then think about what you have. You may not have all the hottest fashions, but at least you have clothes to wear. You may not be the belle of the ball at school every day, but at least you have friends and people that care about you. Changing your focus from what you don't have to what you do will you open your eyes to how wonderful your life really is.

One of my favorite movies is "It's a Wonderful Life." In the movie, George Bailey gives up many of his lifelong dreams to keep up a business his father started and to help people less fortunate than him. When he encounters a very difficult trial, he considers ending his life, but a special friend is sent to show him what a wonderful life he really has. You can see an awesome clip from this movie here.


No matter what your struggles, no matter what you don't have, you always have the right to happiness.

-Sarah :)

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