Tiffany Raiford
What’s awesome about the future is that you can do anything you want (within the confines of the law, this is not permission to do anything illegal and the fact that I have to point that out really speaks volumes to the way people think these days). You can be anyone you want, you can do anything you want and you can be as happy as you want. Some people laugh off the notion that happiness is a choice, but I am here to tell you that happiness is the best choice you will ever make, and it is, indeed, a choice. Happiness is not something that you will acquire with a fat bank account or with a handsome husband or with everything you ever wanted. It’s a mindset; a way of life. You have to choose that. Trust me; when my 4-year-old painted a mural on the carpet with Desitin after forgetting to flush the toilet in her bathroom and then leaving the bathroom door open so my 1-year-old twins could make their way in there from their playroom to retrieve the contents of the toilet and use it to paint the walls, cabinets and themselves, I was a bit furious.
Actually, I wanted to run away from home and never come back. All I did was walk into the next room to put pancakes on four plates for four kids, get cups ready and set the table. I wasn’t out of the room 1 solid minute and this happened. And we had 20 minutes until it was time to leave for school. That’s enough to ruin ANYONE’s day, but I chose to continue on my path to happiness by not letting it get to me. Trust me when I say you can choose happiness. Every decision you make and every action you take today, tomorrow and the next day shape your future and your future happiness. You’d much rather work on being happy tomorrow right now so that you can look back tomorrow and realize that your choices were good and positive. What you do now affects you for the rest of your life, so make it worthwhile. Do things now that will make you happy later on, even if they feel more like work right now. You never regret taking chances and growing. So what I’ve done is come up with a list of things you can do right now to make your future self happy – whether you want to make yourself happier today or tomorrow, these are the things you need to be doing.
Choose You
If you’re not putting yourself first, it’s time to start. It’s not selfish; it’s a necessity. You have to think of you first sometimes or you’re going to go crazy.
Save Money
Do it now and do it often. It will be something you are very thankful and very happy about later in your life for various reasons.
Say Yes
Sometimes you just have to say yes to yourself, to your life and to your future. We can’t tell you what to say yes about, but we can tell you to say yes and do things for you.
Learn to Say No
It’s not always in your best interests to say yes to people, so you have to learn to say no. You have to learn to say no without feeling guilty, either. You do what’s best for you.
Be Kind
Guess what? Being kind is one of the nicest things you can do to ensure future happiness. The kinder you are now, the happier you will be later.
Be Present
If there is one thing you will regret most, it’s the moments you are not present in your own life and the lives of your kids. Be present now and you’ll be very happy in the future.
Get Healthy
If you look back on your life, how you would you feel knowing that you could have gotten healthy a year ago? If you start now, you can look back at this moment in the future and feel even happier.
Be a Good Friend
You can sleep later; go be with the friend who needs you now. You need to be present in their lives to be a good friend, and now is the best time to do this to ensure happy future friendships.
Have a Positive Attitude
Did you know that you can choose positivity and make it a habit? When you choose to focus on the positive rather than the negative, you will be a lot happier.
Try New Things
It’s a great way to be happy in life to try new things. New experiences and new places and new people will always work wonders on your mood.
Smile More
Make it a habit to smile more often and see what it does to your level of happiness. You can start now and be very happy for the rest of your life.
Embrace Change
It seems so scary, but every time you look back and change you can see how it was the best thing that ever happened to you. Now do that for yourself, and you’re going to be so much happier in the future.
Say Goodbye to Toxic People
You don’t need or want people in your life that aren’t good for you, so say goodbye to those people and move on to newer and better things. Your future happiness depends on it.
Date Your Spouse
If you want a long-lasting, happy marriage, you have to do this. You have to continue to date long after the wedding vows were spoken, the kids were born and the hectic schedule that is life took over. Do it and you’ll be so happy about it later.
Chase Your Dreams
You never look back and regret doing what is best for you, but you always look back with regret on the things you did not do. So chase your dreams and make it possible to live the life of your dreams.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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