Regret #5: I wish I had chosen to be happier

I've been going through the 5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware and today we get to #5.

5) I wish that I had let myself be happier.

"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. "

Do you want to be happy? I don't know anyone who would answer "no" to that question. However, many don't know that happiness is a choice we make and not an emotion that we feel.  Happiness is not dependent on your circumstances and you can choose to be happy right in the middle of unpleasant things.  I thought she mentioned a few key things:

• Fear of change
• Inability to laugh at self
• Stuck in old patterns

Life is an ever changing, always shifting proposition and if we are unwilling to go with the flow then we'll find it hard to find happiness.

Psalms 86:4

Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to You.

• Happiness is the result of giving: giving yourself to the Lord, giving yourself to friendships, giving yourself to fun, giving yourself to serving, giving your life for a purpose and a cause.

Are you happy today?  If not, maybe you should do what the psalmist did and give yourself to the Lord and let Him give you happiness.