I’ll Be Happy When

Come on … say it with me. I know you say it too: I’ll be happy when…

• I lose 10 pounds
• Buy a house
• Get married
• Emeril poops every day

Okay, in absolutely fairness, Emeril’s poops do make me pretty darn happy. But those other things – I can’t say with absolute confidence that they will make me happy. I believe they will, but does that also mean I won’t be happy until I achieve them?

What if it takes years to achieve them? What if I never achieve them? Am I doomed to be unhappy forevermore?

I can happily announce I’m not. Why? Because I no longer play the “I’ll be happy when” game. In her fabulous book, Happy for No Reason, Marci Shimoff talks about the myth of “I’ll be happy when”. She accurately calls it a happiness robber. And it absolutely is.

In retrospect, I played the “I’ll be happy when game” to avoid really living. It gave me a good excuse to sit on the sidelines and dream about how great life would be when I finally got the things I wanted. The things I needed to be happy and complete, never noticing that life and opportunities were just passing me by.

I have no doubt the things I want for myself will make me happy – I also know that I can be happy today without them. I know this because I am happy. I make a conscious effort to acknowledge and appreciate the blessings in my life every day.

If you’re happy and you know it – clap your hands. My hands are clapping. Are yours?