| Today we start to explore the idea of self-responsibility. One of the greatest causes of unhappiness is feeling powerless to change your situation. Very many people feel trapped and powerless in their lives. The truth is that what is happening in our lives at any given point is not the cause of unhappiness. It is our response, the way we think about what is happening, that causes the unhappiness, not the actual circumstances. It is simply our thoughts and beliefs. This may seem hard to believe for many people, but how can one explain how one person in a Nazi prison camp can be happy while another would not, and yet their circumstances are the same. Some people can appear can appear to have anything and everything they want and still be unhappy. Others have virtually nothing and be completely happy. This would seem to indicate that it is not the external world that governs happiness and that is indeed true. A happy, peaceful or joyful person knows that they can choose to be happy in any given situation. This does not mean that they like or necessarily be in a given situation, but that does mean that they have to be unhappy. They can choose to view the situation as temporary and they are doing what they can to change it. This can lead to peace of mind. It is the choice of thoughts and responses to any situation that governs happiness. This is what self-responsibility is about; about knowing that it is you that chooses to be happy or not, no matter what your external circumstances are. |
