Why are you always smiling?

How can you be so positive?

I get asked these questions more often than you may think. I have met people who question my ability to be happy, because of the troubles that surround me or even them. People become stressed over money, relationships gone wrong, hectic days at work, etc. It’s understandable that a person’s natural reaction to these situations is stress, because I stress over them, too. However, I have worked really hard to not let these situations control my day and my life.

I choose to smile and to find happiness in every day and here is why:

For someone who has anxiety and who easily worries, I have to find ways to escape the challenges in my life. I do this by finding my happy. Whether that means focusing on the highlights of my day, looking forward to the next day, or feeling grateful for what I have; I find a reason to smile. I do what gives me energy and life. I write to let go of my negativity and to express the emotions that muddle my mind, I dance to celebrate, I read to experience adventures that are out of this world, and I surround myself with people who love life as much as I do. I surround myself with people who live for adventure by hiking, traveling and by learning about culture through art and literature. The bright light, the silver lining, the color I find in every drab day is what helps me escape a world of worry.

Happiness is a powerful emotion in a sense that it can come from other people in your life, but it stays and flourishes when you bring elements into your life that will feed you positivity and push away negativity.

I choose to be happy, because it is one of the few gifts I can give myself and that others will want to share.

If you choose to kick yourself for the rest of the day for saying something stupid in class, if you choose to dwell on a past mistake that cost you a friendship, you can’t make room to see the beauty that surrounds you every day. Nothing that used to interest you or make you smile has its usual sparkle.

I’m not saying that you’re wrong to let yourself feel sad, disappointed or angry. Our lives wouldn’t be as unique and vibrant as they are if we didn’t allow ourselves to feel every emotion we experienced. I just feel like the negative emotions tend to win over the positive too often. In our way of living, we tend to move fast and fill our lives with busy work to make ourselves feel accomplished. However, this highly structured schedule can often lead to stress, feeling overwhelmed and can instead make us feel incomplete, because we forget to make time for ourselves. We have to remember to pause, check in on ourselves and take time to re-energize.

Let yourself feel every emotion, but do not allow yourself to drown in that emotion. Keep your head above water and find a dry place to let yourself feel the sun.