Happiness comes from within

Velvet Hand - Leif Podhajsky

Today is the first day of December. The most beautiful month of the year. You can just feel the festive spirit in the air. The Christmas decorations, people coming together, the lights, the music. It's wonderful. 

As the last day of December approaches, we get ready to celebrate. And before we know it, there it is; New Year's Eve. It's like a universal birthday, a fresh start for the world. There are parades in the streets, music, and families and friends celebrating everywhere. But when the night ends, no one goes home alone; everyone goes home with resolutions. Millions  of resolutions accompanying people from all over the world. And every resolution screams out a silent hope; that 'this year I will be happier.'

We all know how the story goes from there; 365 days later we realize we've only accomplished a quarter of these resolutions. But we tell ourselves its fine, the cycle goes on, and then there we are again, another New Year's Eve, another set of resolutions, and the lingering hope that again 'this year I will be happier.'

Although this hope transforms into a reality for many, it lingers much longer for a whole lot of others. Why? Because they look back at the year; a lost job, a bad break up, a divorce, losing someone close, and days just not turning out the way they were meant to. And the voice that says "Try again next year!"

From the 18 New Years, I have lived, the 8 or so that I remember, I learnt that being happy doesn't depend on how the year goes. Some of the happiest people I know have been through the toughest and most unpleasant of situations. But they made a choice, to accept whatever comes their way with grace. They made a choice to be happy. 

Being happy is not an outcome or a result. It's an attitude, you choose to face your life with. I once read that a situation never has any power over you, its the thoughts that you generate about that situation that have this power. Two people can pass through the same event, but it is the way they approach it, the way they choose to interpret it that will determine the effect of that event on them. 

I have learnt that things won't always go the way we want them to. Sometimes they will, and thats great, and worthy of appreciation. But other times they won't. Since we've been led to believe that being happy is a result of some utopian state, where we have all we want, in perfect blissful place, every year, when we look for happiness we search for something we do not understand. And its no surprise that we end up empty handed. 

In this artwork there are two hands. The outer hand, is the one doing the physical work. It's the hand that will end up with the dirt, the bruises, the scars. But then there's the inner hand untouched, and firm. Its the inner hand, that supports the outer one and gives it strength and determines the way it works. 

In this artwork there are two hands. The outer hand, is you living 365 days over and over. The inner hand is you making a choice to be happy, over and over, no matter what.

Your story, is your story. And in every story there is the good and the bad, the pleasant and the unpleasant, the smiles and the tears, the heartache and the solace, the easy and the hard. In every story there is also a hero, choosing to be happy, even when that choice might seem impossible.

'Velvet Hand' whispers, happiness comes from within.