Commitment to Happiness

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." 
Abraham Lincoln

I for sure thought that happiness was not something you could just decide to be.  What about when things happen that I don't like?  What about all those times when the people around me didn't treat me right?  What about all those problems with my job?  What about all those natural disasters?  What about when my beloved children were not happy and I couldn't fix it?  What about when people that I loved with all my heart died?  You have got to be kidding me!  There's no way I can be happy anyway.  That would make me crazy or inhuman.

It turns out that I can be happy and sad at the same time.  I can even wish things were different and still be happy.  It doesn't make me inhuman.  I will still have all my normal human emotions.  AND I will still have my commitment to be happy, in general, in my life.

What else is there really?  I've been given a wonderful gift - a life to live on this beautiful earth.  I really have little to no control of what happens around me.  So, in honor of the gift I've been given - in spite of the fact that I have no power to arrange everything the way I want it - I choose to be happy, accepting and grateful.  All I have to do is remember every day that that's my commitment to God and to myself.