Defining Happy

hapŸpy  (adjective) – Delighted, pleased, or glad as over a particular thing.  Characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy.   Favored by fortune, fortunate or lucky. (Dictionary.com)

There you have it, the dictionary definition of happy.   Sounds like a pretty dead on synopsis of what the word truly means but I think it’s missing one very important detail.  Happiness is defined by each individual person, not a website or a book.  What makes one person happy may not be the same for the person next to them.  Creating your own definition of happy is imperative to creating the best version of you.

In regards to my quest to bring about visible change, happiness is defined by selecting what it is that I want in regards to the controllable factors in my life.  Once the things I want are determined, I need to set attainable goals and time frames to reach the levels that I feel will make me the most content with the things I can dictate.  Now the real trick is to not think of what would be “perfect” but to focus on what to change to make us happy.  We all want to be the happiest versions of ourselves, which will ultimately be imperfect to someone but if you're happy do you really think you will care what anyone else thinks?

So here’s some homework for you.  While I figure out the controllable factors in my life and how I would like to change them, I urge all of you to take a look at yourselves as well.  What bothers you?  Maybe it’s your weight.  Instead of saying I want to lose 50lbs and I want to do it in 2 weeks, try saying I would like to go down one pant size and I will give myself a month to do it.  Or maybe its finances that plague you.  Go over your spending and instead of vowing to give up everything extraneous you waste your money on, focus on the little ways you can cut back and go from there. 

Aiming for “perfect” is setting yourself up for failure.  Changing something but going to extremes is setting a precedent that is practically impossible to continue in the long term.  Little steps will change you.  Learning to make better choices or more informed selections will make a difference.  By setting attainable goals and meeting those goals, you will feel better, you will feel accomplished.   Maybe it will make you more motivated to take things another step further or simply content that you reached your goal.  Visible change is making a change to your lifestyle and by doing it gradually; you will have a better chance to maintain the progress.  So stop worrying about how you can be perfect and start asking yourself how can I be happiest?