It's a Choice

"Happiness is a choice."

When my older brother first said this to me. I did not understand what it meant. I also was not in a place to receive it so I got offended. He was trying to me something because he loves me but that was not what I heard. What I heard was, "there's something wrong with you. you shouldn't be feeling this way. your feelings don't matter." After coming to Regeneration and learning about walking in the opposite spirit and what that means opened my eyes to the truth that happiness truly is a choice. I know this now from experience. All the times I was not feeling well for one thing or another I would constantly remind myself that happiness is a choice. I would also distract my mind from focusing on whatever it was that was causing me to feel unwell by doing things that cheer me up. Slowly I noticed a change; it has been easier for me to focus on the positive rather than the negative, as a result I was able to maintain a cheery disposition throughout the day.

"Love is a choice."

I have also learned that love is a choice. It's choosing to always forgive whenever you've been hurt. It's choosing to look past the differences. It's choosing to respond out of love as opposed to reacting out of offense, even if the other person is yelling at you. It's about choosing to speak the truth out of love instead of being snippy and cutting. It's about loving and accepting the person for who they are. It's about preferring the other person whether or not you think they deserve it under the circumstances. In the end, choosing to love and choosing to be cheerful is about walking in the opposite spirit. After I began to practice walking in the opposite spirit I started to understand what choosing to be happy and choosing to love looks like and what it means.