by Rosie Galvez
A couple of months ago, a good friend and I were having a conversation about happiness. She stated that being happy is only a momentary feeling or emotion. She did not believe it’s a permanent state of mind. At first, I couldn’t decide about that, but have noticed this topic seems to be coming up a lot lately.
About a month ago, Oprah did a show about happiness. According to the survey done on her show, most people are happy in their lives. I don’t know about that since I don’t see or hear a lot of people being happy.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, happiness is: “glad, pleased, delighted as over a particular thing. Characterized by or indicative of pleasure or contentment.” So, are we pleased, glad, or delighted in our lives? I can understand feeling happy when you just won some lottery ticket or scratch-off game, or when you aced that promotion that you wanted, but these are moments of elation, not a permanent feeling. Then again, there’s the saying, “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.” Problem is that many people wish for something, and when it comes true, they’re still not happy or satisfied.
Some of us see the glass as half-full or half-empty. I say it’s our behavior that
keeps us from being happy. Think about it; how many times a day do you hear people talk negatively about other people, or situations in their or someone else’s life? How many times have you heard someone tell you, “Oh, you’ll never make it,” or “Stop holding on to a dream that will never happen.”
Why and when did we become so negative? Some of it can come from childhood, especially when you have a bitter parent who thinks life didn’t give them what they should have had. All that comes out of their mouth is negative. If you know anything about our Universe, then you know everything is made up of energy. This negative energy will just keep coming into your life unless you stop the behavior.
I found myself being negative all the time; it was consuming me. It was when my best friend mentioned it to me that I realized I was constantly spewing venom. I wasn’t happy because I imagined a different life at a certain age. Once I changed my behavior and way of thinking, I noticed that I was feeling happy and enthusiastic even though I wasn’t where I wanted to be.
It’s very easy to get caught up in the behavior of negativity. So you ask, “Is happiness a permanent emotion?” I believe it can be, but it’s all up to you and how you view life. Instead of thinking, “I don’t have this or that, I’m not where I want to be, etc…” just be happy to be on this earth. It may be hard to change your negative behavior because you’ve been practicing it for years, but just for one week, try feeling happiness and see if things don’t change!
Contributor, Rosie G.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.
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