An Inside Job

You may have heard of the phrase or quote “Happiness is an inside job”. And it is.

When I was younger, I would think that this person or that person will make me happy. I believed if I have this job or if I have that item then I will be happy. Somewhere along the way of my young life, I believed other people or a place or a circumstance would be the secret to being happy.

I was wrong. And that is okay. It revealed the lesson to be learned.

I thought I had undertaken the journey of self-discovery earlier in my life. It began in my mid-20’s and then a gap and picked up again after one those life events thirteen plus years ago. While I can wish that self-discovery continued in my 20’s, with no gap, it did not so I am embracing it now and grateful for it.

In order for my self-discovery journey to take hold, I have to learn a whole heck of a lot about myself. I was good at avoiding “me” and turn my attention elsewhere – a skill I could have earned a masters in. The life event was one that I was willing to be introspective and I learned so much about me . I became self-aware (typically not in the negative, self -critical way but in a positive, introspective way … after all I am a work in progress).

Becoming self-aware became a gift. Learning about myself allowed me to discover what I enjoy in life, what challenges me, how to find beauty in everyday life and how to feel gratitude even with those challenging things. I figured out what it meant when the words “Happiness is an inside job”.

Every day offers an opportunity to see and feel life. Every day offers an opportunity to continue my self-discovery. Every day offers an opportunity for happiness, it’s an inside job. ~ChaCha