Unstoppable Joy

Unstoppable Joy

The Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

Ask yourself a question. No need to answer it out loud. This is between you and yourself.

Do you think of yourself as an optimistic person? Do you just have a feeling things will always turn out all right? Has anyone ever called you “happy go lucky”?

Or…

Do you think of yourself as a pessimistic person? Does something always feel like it is lacking? Would you bet things are not going to turn out as you wish they would?

Mull it over and see if something that feels true rises to the surface.

It turns out, it’s a choice. Scientific studies show you can choose which outlook you’d like to integrate as part of your own way of life. Even those who have always seen themselves as pessimists aren’t actually doomed to a life of pessimism.

The psychologist Martin Seligman coined the term Learned Optimism. He found that optimists generally blame bad events on temporary external causes, whereas pessimists always blame themselves.

What does this mean for you? Notice when you feel that sense of guilt in your torso. Remind yourself it’s okay to share the responsibility. You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Dr Seligman also found that pessimistic people apply failure in one area of life as meaning failure across their whole life. Whereas optimists are able to compartmentalize a failure as just that one circumstance and don’t spread the negative conclusions to themselves as a whole.

So, when something difficult arises, notice how contagious that feeling is. If you find it infecting other areas of your life, stop. Know that you have a choice in that moment.

The American author Alice Walker wrote, “There’s just so much beauty in being authentic, whatever you are. All this unstoppable joy… to actually have joy in your life, is a great victory. This ability to understand what true success is… true success is about being happy. It’s about doing what you have to do to survive, but you have your good times, you have your music, you have your dances, and this is it. This is what is of value to a human life… an opportunity to enlarge, grow the kind of self kind acceptance, the kind of irrepressible courage, the kind of wisdom, just being happy with who you are, what a joy.”

Here on your Fabulous path, you have not been deemed an optimist or a pessimist. You are simply you with the power to choose your outlook.

You have irrepressible courage. Find your unstoppable joy.

@The Fabulous