"You are the only one who can make you happy." We have all heard that so many times in our lives.

There are times it is a pretty tough pill to swallow. In reality, the people that surround you have a huge impact on your current mood. When your children are grumpy in the morning, you find a nice pile the dog left you over night, you hit the road and the traffic won't allow you your normal speed, then when you get to work and your co-worker called in sick... these are all things that might contribute to your overall Happiness of the day.
However, moods and temporary emotions are not the same as happiness. Happiness exists when you look at the overall picture of your life and you smile, that is happiness. You know those times when you can't wait for your children to go to bed, then later you check on the kids and you almost cry because they look exactly like angels... YOUR ANGELS, sleeping so sweetly and soundly. You can hardly remember a time of irritation with them. That is Happiness.

As life progresses and changes, we realize that who we are, (what makes us, us)... that is what we are responsible for. We know that immediate gratification or irritation only pacifies or deteriorates our emotional stimuli short term. Our global view of how we see ourselves determines our state of mind. Our state of mind determines our Happiness.

So, how do we take control of our emotions and find the path of Happiness? This seems to be the million dollar question. There are tons of books on or related to the subject. You could read and practice until you are completely confused. Or, we could spend the rest of our life introspectively evaluating what makes us happy. Which might take more time and energy and actually frustrate us more.

How about this? What if we looked at ourselves and decided what we liked and didn't like and set about making changes. It doesn't have to be major alterations. Maybe you are tired of your house but can't afford to move. Try painting the living room or buying flowers to set on the kitchen table. If you haven't had a vacation for awhile and just can't afford to take that cruise, go camping instead.

Maybe the issues are more personal or internal. Do you get mad too easily? Learn yoga or meditation. Are you having marital problems? Visit a counselor. Are the kids having discipline issues? Determine the major issues, establish guidelines on how you are going to correct the problem and stick to it.

You may be saying, 'Sure, that sounds so easy but...' Of course it sounds easy. Problems are always easier to talk about than to take the obvious actions to fix them. But, for the most part, things are as difficult or as easy as we determine them to be. Sometimes we just make things harder than necessary.

If your unHappiness stems from a situation beyond your control then find other ways to compensate. If, for example, money is so tight and no apparent windfall is coming your way any time soon, find inexpensive entertainment. Backyard ballgames, picnics in the park, movie night with popcorn and snacks in your bedroom are a few alternatives to an expensive night out. If the issues are more serious and you feel powerless, that is the time to seek professional help.

Otherwise, look in the mirror and be glad. If you don't like what you see, change it. Make the solution that simple!

“你是唯一能使你幸福的人。”這句話在生活里我們都聽過很多次。

有時候，生活像難以下咽的藥片。事實上，你周圍的人對你當時的心情有重大的影響。當你的孩子在早上淘氣的時候，當你發現小狗留下一堆隔夜的糞便的時候，當你沖到馬路上，而交通卻不允許你以正常的速度前進時，當你來到單位卻發現同事請了病假的時候……所有這些事情都可能會影響你一天的快樂。

然而，情緒和暫時的情感不同于幸福。幸福存在于當你觀看整個生命的圖畫并微笑的時候，那才是幸福。你知道那些時刻，當你迫不及待的想要你的孩子們上床睡覺，而后在你查看他們的時候卻幾乎哭了出來，因為他們看起來就像是天使……你的天使，睡的如此香甜。你幾乎記不得和他們生氣的時刻。那就是幸福。

因為生命在發展變化，我們會意識到我們是誰，（是誰創造了我們）……那就是我們所要負責的。我們知道，即刻的喜悅和憤怒只會在短期內使我們的情緒平靜或惡化。我們如何看待自己決定了我們的意識狀態，而我們的意識狀態決定了我們的幸福。

那么我們應當如何控制情緒并找到幸福之路呢？這似乎是個彌足珍貴的問題。有不計其數的書籍闡述這一問題。你可以閱讀練習直到你完全迷惑，或者，我們可以反省是什么使我們幸福。這可能要花費更多時間和精力并使我們更加失望。

這樣如何呢？如果我們看著自己，并決定我們喜歡的和不喜歡的，然后開始做出改變。不必然是大的改變。或許你對你的房子感到厭煩卻無力搬家。試著粉刷臥室，或者買些花放到餐桌上。如果你還沒有度假并且無力承擔，那就用野營代替。

或許這些事情更傾向于私人化或內在化。你很容易發怒嗎？去學學瑜伽或者沉思吧。你有婚姻問題嗎？去拜訪一個咨詢師吧。孩子們有教育問題嗎？確定主要的問題，為你如何糾正問題并堅持下去建立指導綱領。

你可以說：“當然，那聽起來很容易，但是……”當然那聽起來很容易。問題總是聽易做難，但是，更多時候，事情和我們所推定的一樣的難易。有時，只是我們把事情變的難了。

如果你的不快樂源自于你控制以外的情形，那么找到另外的方式去彌補。例如，錢很緊張，卻又沒有意外之財，那么就去找個不太昂貴的娛樂。后院足球賽，公園野餐，帶著苞米花去看電影，臥室里的小點心，都是可以取代外出度過奢侈夜晚的方式。如果問題更嚴重，你感到無力，那就是時候尋求專業幫助了。

否則，看著鏡子，高興一點。如果你不喜歡你所看到的，那就改變它。做出更簡單的解決！