I can so vividly remember sitting in an office and seeing a poster with the words, “Choose Happiness”. We’ve all seen these words before. They are sprinkled in many places these days: walls, t-shirts, tattoos, screensavers, bumper stickers, etc. Well the specific poster I so vividly recall came into my life at a very low point. I didn’t know who I was. I was battling my own personal demons. So when I read those simple yet powerful words, “Choose Happiness”, I thought to myself, “Psh, if only it were that easy”.

At that stage in my life, I was cynical, sad, tired and angry. Happiness was a myth to me. I couldn’t grasp it nor understand it. And this poster left me in a dialectical state of mind. I was curious AND pissed off. I was curious what my life would look like if I chose happiness. I was curious how I would go about choosing happiness. It’s not like I could just search “happiness” on Amazon and have it delivered at my door in 2-3 business days. It’s not like I could go to the grocery store and go down aisle 5 and find happiness next to the Pepsi 6 packs. I was curious what happiness would feel like. AND I was pissed off at the pastel colors on this dainty little poster because it felt like those words were mocking me and my sad, pathetic life.

Fast forward a few years later…Today, that poster makes sense to me. Today, I make a conscious effort to choose happiness. How did I get there? What did I do? How long did it take? The short answer to all of those questions is, I accepted that life is a never-ended journey of change.

This is the last blog entry on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. We did it! We made it to the finish line. NOT! There is no “finish line” in life. Remember that life is a never-ended journey of change. Let’s take one last look at Maslow’s pyramid…

Maslow believed that the final stage in his Hierarchy of Needs is reaching the point of Self-Actualization. My favorite author and inspirational speaker, Matthew Kelly, refers to this as “becoming the best version of yourself”. How do we go about being the best version of ourselves and reaching self-actualization?

Life is about choices and change. Every day, we are faced with choices to make. Every moment, we are faced with change happening right before our eyes. Life is a journey and our journey is defined by the choices we make toward change. We can choose the options that will promote health, well-being, success, connection to others, and serenity. OR we can choose the options that will lead us down a slippery slope to a dark and lonely place. The choices are ours.

Self-actualization is all about fully using all the gifts, talents and capabilities that you have been given. Living up to your full potential.

So here’s my little teaching moment…let’s look at all of the choices that you may be offered in a day:

Eggs or cereal? Shower or dry shampoo? Dress or romper? Hair up or down? Bike or drive? Work meeting or not? Salad or wrap? Work assignment or not? Bike or drive? Yoga or tv? Exercise or video game? Chicken or steak? Book or tv? Bed or tv?

That’s only a snippet of all of the choices that you will be given in one day. Which choice will lead you toward self-actualization? Which choice will exercise all of your gifts, talents and capabilities? And in choosing that option, you are choosing happiness.

Happiness is hard work. Happiness takes daily discipline. Happiness may feel like a chore at times. Because in order to reach a state of happiness, we have to work hard. And sometimes hard work brings on sweat, blood and tears. But take it from me, the end result is worth all of the hard work. Today, I choose happiness and today I love me, myself and my journey called life.

Check-out the Self-Affirmations Tab for more on becoming the best version of yourself by choosing happiness.