By Lisa Cypers Kamen.
Does a person have to be happy all the time?
Can you expect there to be no negative experiences in your life? There will inevitably be negative events and experiences in life. It’s just the way things are – and things can happen in life that we never expected.
The loss of a loved one, the end of a marriage, a move to anew cityor country… the list of possibilities is endless. One person’s negative experience could be someone else’s positive. It also depends on how situations are dealt with.
Optimism contributes to a healthier, happier life. That doesn’t mean that there will never be negative things in life nor does it mean that someone has to be happy 24/7.
Happiness, like other things in life, is a choice. You can choose to be happy or unhappy, just as you can choose an outfit, how much money you spend, or what recreation you want to engage in. Choose happiness.
Lisa Cypers Kamen is a filmmaker, positive psychology coach, author, host of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio, professor and lecturer specializing in the field of sustainable happiness. She is widely recognized as an expert on the subject. Lisa’s acclaimed documentary film co-produced with her now fifteen year-old daughter, Kayla, “H-Factor…Where is your heart?” explores how people in varied circumstances find, generate and share happiness. In addition to her film on happiness, Lisa has also published a number of articles and books entitled, Got Happiness Now?, Are We Happy Yet?, Leadership: Helping Others to Succeed and Reintegration Strategies, about combat trauma and using positive psychology principles to create wellness in a post-war new normal. Lisa’s written work is featured on blogs for the Huffington Post, PositivelyPositive.com and InspireMeToday.com and she is a TEDx community event speaker. In addition, she is the Happiness Expert for the Florida Department of Citrus/ Florida Orange Juice in its Take on the Day campaign.
Harvesting Happiness for Heroes™ is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that delivers stigma-free integrated combat trauma recovery services to warriors and their loved ones. Modalities include scientifically proven strengths based Positive Psychology coaching and interdisciplinary tools such as film, yoga, meditation, art and creative writing designed to mindfully empower the client to achieve increased self-mastery, self-esteem and reclaim her/his life. HH4Heroes focuses on the balance of mind, body and emotion resulting in greater overall wellbeing and the transformation of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) into Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG). HH4Heroes offers retreat workshops, one-on-one coaching, Battle Buddy programs, as well as our new R.E.B.O.O.T Online virtual community coaching classrooms designed to reach underserved areas. In addition, HH4Heroes deploys Return to Duty™ civilian and corporate training to help welcome a warrior home and into the community and workplace.
Lisa is committed to teaching Happiness is an inside job™ and helping others end their needless suffering through intentionally cultivating greater joy.
No-one cane be happy all the time. It just is not possible. If someone is saying he is always happy all the time, well he’s definitely lying or delusional. In order to fully live in this world, we have to see the world and that means sometime we may come across something that makes us feel sad or gloomy. Though it seems like a bad thing but it really isn’t.
The point is, don’t try to chase happiness. The more you chase, the more it eludes you.