Have A Happy New Year - It's All Up To You

New Years Quotes, 

Recently, browsing at Barnes
and Noble bookstore, I noticed a number of books about happiness on
display. Apparently, hearing "have a happy new year" hundreds
of times in the first few weeks of January is not sufficient to bring
it about.

As I see it, there are two
fundamental truths to being happy.
Truth 1: We are responsible
for our own happiness.
I know, that one is always
hard to swallow: Why should I have to take responsibility for my own
happiness? Why can't it just happen? Like, right now, and more often!
(On the other hand, would you rather rely on the vagaries of fate to
determine when and how much you can be happy?) Accepting this truth
is the first, and perhaps most difficult, step.
Truth 2: Happiness is a
skill.
As Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard,
dubbed "the happiest man in the world" based on MRI imaging
of his brain while meditating, writes in "Happiness: A Guide To
Developing Life's Most Important Skill" happiness is something
to be learned, like playing tennis or reading. That's empowering, don't
you think? Because it means that, rather than something that just "happens," happiness is something I can practice (like my backhand!) - and on the
days when I just can't seem to get there, it's more akin to my tennis
game being off than it is about not being able to "find" happiness.
Still, I often forget these
truths when I get caught up in the hectic day-to-day and find myself
reverting to the good ol' familiar myths many of us have been conditioned
to believe.
by Renita Kalhorn