What is Happiness? Part 3 of 3

???

We have already been through what (in my opinion) happiness is not. Events, Circumstances, Stuff, Objects, Things, Job, Occupation, Work, Family, People, Faith, Religon, Volunteer Work...

So what is it and how does a person have it in their life?

Happiness can be found in anything. Happiness is a choice. Happiness can be a feeling, but one can be happy without "feeling" happy.

People choose to be happy and have the ability to be happy at any POINT (event, circumstance) in their life; while they are around ANYBODY (people, family, job, occupation, volunteer work, etc); they can be happy with any THING (stuff, objects, money) or the lack of anything (stuff, objects, money). Happiness is a state of mind, often impacted by many different things (media, culture, friends, family, circumstances, events, etc). But the point is, we as people ALWAYS have a choice to be happy or not to be happy.

"But the point is, we as people ALWAYS have a choice to be
happy or not to be happy."

For some people this is easier than others. I believe it is a skill that some have been developing their entire lives to choose to be happy no matter the circumstances, events, things, work, or positive impact. I am not implying that a person is or should be happy at all times, we are human, and I believe that to be highly unlikely. My point is we ALWAYS have a choice.

Again, to go back to Viktor Frankl:

"Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but
one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." (Emphasis Added)

Remember this is a man who lived through the concentration camps, lost his pregnant wife and parents, and saw what we can only imagine through textbooks, movies, and museums... If he believes that we can CHOOSE in ANY given set of circumstances...than my question to myself and to you is what are you choosing for your attitude? If Frankl and plenty of others can survive the Holocaust, than why is it that we struggle so much at times to make it through our lives?

To put this into the Voluntourism lens, I believe that throughout the world right now extreme poverty is a major issue. People are dying and suffering and trying to make life better for themselves and for their familes, for their communities and their futures...and when a person chooses to be a Voluntourist in one of these areas they see it with their own eyes, smell it, feel it, get to know it...in fact, I would guess that in fact at some point during a trip like the one we are about to go on, the traveler will feel it so much they just may be overwhelmed.

This is not a rollercoaster ride to feel the rush for a little bit and get off. This is not a museum to look and admire and than go back to life. In fact, this is a life changing experience. I think the quote that best fits here is by Oliver Wendell Holmes:

"Man's mind, once stretched...never regains its original
dimensions"

Are you ready to stretch? To reach and feel and not go back to the way you are?

My hope is that we will be able to choose happiness more often and take a control of our attitude in our conditions...if needed we can consider Viktor Frankl and the Holocaust and put our life into perspective. If that doesn't work, I would suggest traveling some time on a Voluntourism trip so that your paradigm will change...it is unlikey that you can feel sorry for yourself when you remember the look on the school girl's face as she attended school in one of her 2 outfits, as she walked well over an hour to get there, as she remembered her family that lives hours away. Don't feel sorry, just feel and use that as a compass to put your life into a better perspective.