I learned a long time ago that no one can MAKE you happy or MAKE you sad. You in fact are responsibly for your own happiness and the way you feel. Now, don’t get up in arms so quickly, finish reading with an open mind before you come up with a hundred scenarios to try and prove this statement false. Yes, there are many, many many situations that are very very sad, even tragic. And there are many many situations that are so filled with joy is can bring tears to our eyes almost uncontrollably. Now I ask you, do these feelings last? Do they last five minutes? Five days? Five years? Because if they do, than maybe I’m wrong, maybe these are the things that make us happy and sad.
What I mean when I say we are responsible for our own happiness is just that. I allow what others say and do to affect me negatively or positively. Take the birth of a child. If my friend has a baby, I may be filled with joy for their new arrival. I may be filled with jealousy over wanting a little bundle of joy. I may be filled with concern over their ability to care for the child, or for the child’s well-being in general should there be an issue. None of these are brought on by the mother or the children they are all in my head and in my heart and I choose to feel them and think them.
Recently I lost a friend due to alcoholism, liver failure to be exact. I chose to not be filled with sorrow though I was very sad. I choose to embrace his memory and his struggle and use it as an example of what alcohol can do. Share his story and move forward. I think I would have a good reason to be very sad for a good length of time considering the back story on my particular friend and the situation, but again…. I am responsible for my feelings and my thoughts. This is my choice.
When I was a child and was angry or upset, my parents would ask me how long I intended to be angry. At first I thought it was strange, but then it became normal behavior. If I responded with twenty minutes, than for twenty minutes, they would leave me alone and let me sulk and be very very angry with them. However, at the end of the twenty minutes, they would come to me and let me know my time was up. It was time to change my outlook on the situation. Now there were situations as I grew older that required full days or even several days of anger or sadness, but just the same, at the conclusion of my time frame, my parents would come back to me and check to see that my frame of mind had adjusted and let me know it was me responsible for my happiness and it was time to find that within me once again.
I watched a video this morning on this very topic. It spoke of being responsible for your own happiness within a relationship (marriage specifically). If you are not happy within and responsible for your own happiness, than you come to the partnership with an empty cup, constantly rattling it begging for someone else to fill your cup for you. If you both come to the table that way, it is destined to fail. If one of you comes to the table that way, it is destined to fail.
A partnership is defined as a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities. Notice the words “joint rights and responsibilities“. JOINT. Not part, not sum, not half-way.
Come to the table with your own joy from within. Throughout your marriage there will be many peaks and valleys. Sometimes you will pull 50% of the line and sometimes 70%, even 90%. Just remember, there are days when your partner will be pulling the same amount when you are in a valley. If you are responsible for your own feelings, it will make towing the line int he relationship so much easier. As thought there is no anchor weighing you both down.
I hope you find your happiness within and enjoy your journey through life. As always, have a happy day!