Series: Rise & Shine | Happiness

Rise & Shine confession: I will choose happiness

Dear Aspen reader,

Joy and happiness are often synonymous.

Lately I’ve heard a lot of talk around choosing to live life to the fullest, living your best life now and choosing joy above all else. While it may feel cheesy to place focus on an emotion that can be fleeting, I support the idea that directing your thoughts and placing them in the direction that you’d like to go will give you big gains when it comes to overall wellness.

There are some arguments that say “choosing joy” is too simplistic and that having the ability to “choose” your feelings is not an option. While I agree that it’s definitely not an easy task to bring your emotions and thoughts into a captive state, I do think it’s possible and feel that it’s the first step toward propelling yourself into new realms of health.

Consider this:

When trying to develop a specific behavior, whether it’s building a new habit or adjusting an existing behavior, you need to first purpose in your heart that it’s necessary. From where does this realization and determination arise? In your mind.

Once you’ve decided that a behavior change is needed, you can generally begin making a plan of action. You might create a goal, develop a timeline, decide on a reward and make a step by step plan to see yourself through to the other side. All of which happens in your mind.

If your mind is so capable of breaking down complex tasks, like behavior changes that promote physical health, don’t you think it’s capable of directing your thoughts towards emotions of happiness and joy? It’s so important to choose joy above all else because studies actually show that your emotional state is directly linked to your wellness levels and desire to be well. Don’t you want that for yourself and those around you?

Choose happiness…..today.

In health,

Alecia