A person does not have to be
behind bars to be a prisoner.
People can be prisoners of their
own concepts, choices and ideas.
So tell the negativity committee
that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up.

When you dream, you better
dream big; when you think, you
better think big; and when you
love, you better love truthfully.
Happiness is a choice. There are no excuses for not trying to make the very best out of your life. There are no excuses for living in a way that consistently makes you unhappy.

Here are ten happiness mistakes to avoid:


1. Thinking that you have already
missed your chance. – Your life,
with all its ups and downs, has
molded you for the greater good.
Your life has been exactly what it
needed to be. Don’t think you’ve
lost time. It took each and every
situation you have encountered to
bring you to the current moment.
And every moment of your life,
including this one right now, is a
fresh start. If you have the courage to admit when you’re scared, the ability to laugh even as you cry, the nerve to speak up even if your voice is shaking, the confidence to ask for help when you need it, and
the wisdom to take it when it’s
offered, then you have everything
you need to get yourself to a better place.


2. Using failed relationships as an
excuse. – Life doesn’t always
introduce you to the people you
WANT to meet. Sometimes life
puts you in touch with the people
you NEED to meet – to help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you, and to gradually strengthen you into the person you were meant to become.


3. Changing who you are to satisfy
others. – No matter how loud their opinions are, others cannot choose who you are. The question should
not be, “Why don’t they like me
when I’m being me?” It should be,
“Why am I wasting my time
worrying what they think of me?”
If you are not hurting anyone with your actions, keep moving forward with your life. Be happy. Be yourself. If others don’t like it, then let them be. Life isn’t about
pleasing everybody.


4. Putting up with negative people and negative thinking. – It’s time to walk away from all the drama and the people who create it.
Surround yourself with those who
make you smile. Love the people
who treat you right, and pray for
the ones who don’t. Forget the
negative and focus on the positive. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Making mistakes and falling down is a part of life, but getting back up and moving on is what LIVING is all about.


5. Focusing all of your attention on another time and place. – This
day will never happen again. Enjoy it. Cherish your time. It’s often hard to tell the true value of a moment until it becomes a
memory. Someday you may
discover that the small things were really the big things. So learn to appreciate what you have before time forces you appreciate what you once had.


6. Overlooking what you have to
focus on what you haven’t. –
Most people end up cheating on
others and themselves because
they pay more attention to what
they’re missing, rather than what
they have. Instead of thinking
about what you’re missing, think
about what you have that
everyone else is missing.


7. Dwelling on the things you can’t change. – If you hadn’t fallen
down, you would never have
learned how to get back on your
feet. If you hadn’t been forced to
let go and move on, you’d never
have learned that you have the
strength to stand on your own. If
you hadn’t lost hope, you would
never have found your faith. The
best often comes after the worst
happens. You can either move on,
or you can dwell on the things you can’t change. Either way life does move on with or without you. So learn from the past and then get the heck out of there. You will always grow stronger from the pain if you don’t let it destroy you.


8. Constantly sacrificing your own
happiness for everyone else. –
Never let your own happiness
wither away as you try to bring
sunshine to others. Life is not
about making others happy. Life is about being honest and sharing
your happiness with them.


9. Losing track of your own goals
and ideals. – Knowing who you
are is one thing, but truly believing and living as yourself is another.
With all the social conditioning in
our society we sometimes forget to stay true to ourselves. Don’t lose yourself out there. In this crazy world that’s trying to make you like everyone else, stay true to your awesome self.


10. Dealing with the stress of
deceiving others. – If you say
you’re going to do something, DO
IT! If you say you’re going to be
somewhere, BE THERE! If you say
you feel something, MEAN IT! If
you can’t, won’t, and don’t, then
DON’T LIE. It’s always better to tell people the truth up front. Live in such a way that if someone decided to attack your character, no one would believe it.