Trying to Find Happiness Outside of Yourself is Like Chasing a Cheetah

It is not unusual for humans to search for happiness outside of themselves. If I get the car, I will be happy. If my child gets into the school he wants, I will be happy. When I lose fifteen pounds, I will be happy. But trying to find happiness outside of yourself is like chasing a cheetah. You will never quite get there, and if you do, it is only a matter of time before the cheetah starts running again.

The problem with this way of thinking is you put yourself on a roller coaster. The ups feels like you are on top of the world, but the downs feel horrible.

Feelings are energy filled, and they attract similar feelings.

It is not unusual to focus more on the negative than the positive. Thirty-seven wonderful things might happen in a day, but somehow, we focus on the one bad thing that happened. 

So how do we make a change?

Instead of chasing the cheetah or spending our life on a roller coaster, I challenge you to make a shift inward. In order to find happiness, we must focus on being happy for what we do have. Being grateful for what we have holds the key to happiness. When we focus on what we do have, the things we want often show up. Why? Because like I shared above, emotions bring an energy that attracts similar emotions. Gratefulness is tied to joy. If we are grateful, we will attract more of the same.

Let’s look at this in the world of parenting.

If we spend our time focusing on what our children are doing wrong, we will continue to attract more of the same.

On the other hand, if we take time to focus on what we are grateful for about our children, we will begin the shift from negative to positive, and more positive behavior will begin showing up.

Get a journal and write down five to ten things you love about each one of your children each day. If you have had a really difficult day with a specific child, this might be difficult, but dig deep. Ironically, when you begin focusing on the positive, your children often feed off of that positive energy and the ripple effect will begin!

For more on parenting read my book, The Parenting Backpack.