Happiness is a natural state of mind. Have you watched an infant or a young child? They seem quite ‘happy’ to just ‘BE’—no matter what they are doing—they are happy. They are in awe of the world and experience joy with each discovery and accomplishment. Yes, I know children are given every toy imaginable, but children age six months to one year are just as happy to have a spoon and metal pan to bang on. My children—girl and boy—among other things received a small hammer, nails and some boards from me for their respective 5th birthday. They spent hours hammering and creating wonderful things. One day my daughter’s playmate next door came over as she sat pounding nails into a piece of wood while she sat on the front lawn. Her playmate watched awhile and then asked, “Can I do that?” My daughter said, “Bring your hammer and nails and we can play here.” “I don’t have a hammer and nails,” she declared. “You don’t, my daughter said with a surprised tone, “tell your mom, she will buy them for you.”

It goes without saying, children will fuss or cry when they are tired, hungry or bored, but while they are physically comfortable and nutritionally satiated, they are ‘happy’ just being.

Unfortunately, when children learn to walk and talk they are told to ‘sit down and shut up’—they are subjected to an endless barrage of criticism from those around them. As a result, their psyche becomes filled with negative thoughts that prevent them from experiencing happiness. Children then resort to looking for things outside themselves for happiness—the next toy or thing.

We are asked, “What makes you happy?” as if something can make us happy. It is the plethora of indoctrinations and adaptations that condition us to forego happiness as we go about living life. The majority of people arrive into adulthood believing that something will make them happy, such as: when they graduate; when they are twenty-one; when they get a job or get a new job; when they find the right husband/wife; when they buy a bigger or faster car, buy a bigger house, when they get promoted; when they retire, and so on. Happiness, thus, becomes an elusive experience that is anticipated some time in the future. But happiness is not contingent on things or events; it is not a destination, but a state of being. It is not meant to be experienced in the future, but at this very moment, NOW—Right Now! Our past is gone and our future is unborn. The only time we live is now. So, the place to be happy is here; the time to be happy is now, and the way to be happy is to make everything we do a moment of awe and wonder, just as you experienced everything as a child.

Your life is abundant with potential sources of happiness—including something as simple as a hammer, nails and boards. Tragically many people continue the indoctrinations of negative thinking because they were conditioned to believe that focusing on all that has gone wrong will provide them with the impetus they need to face the challenges of life’s travail.

When you choose to focus on being happy wherever you are and no matter what you are doing, surprisingly, a shift occurs in the depth and breadth of your existence. Focusing on something to be happy about every single minute can help this shift take place. Each moment you create happiness is a vantage point from which you view the world, which you brought into being, and you can see that being alive truly is a gift to be savored. There are a myriad of experiences you can be happy about—it is simply up to you to identify and acknowledge them.

Conversely every moment you react to where you are and what you are doing with anger, frustration, sadness, fear, anxiety, blame, guilt or shame, you create a vantage point from which you view the world, which you brought into being, and you can see that being in this state is truly your doing.

The key to giving yourself permission to be happy is recognizing that foibles and travail unfolds in everyone’s life, and that you need to avoid letting them interfere with your ability to be happy. It is possible to retain a persona of happiness while attending to your many adult responsibilities. Paradoxically, the more vigilant you are about creating happiness wherever you are, the easier it will be for you to kick back and enjoy yourself in the whirlwind of life’s travail. The more you allow yourself to engage in being happy the longer you will have those youthful feelings coursing through your veins, helping you to retain your youthful looks, attitude and ability.

To continuously create happiness as a natural state of your existence, you need to accept that it is within your power to choose happiness over unhappiness every single minute. Thus, each minute you discover some new source of happiness, the notion that the world is a happy place will find its way more deeply into your being. This moment is the first moment of the rest of your life of your natural state of being—Happiness.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one's daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net