It occurred to me this morning as I was getting ready for work and my daughter was patiently waiting for me, that we all have a finite amount of time on this earth (everyone’s is different and we do not know what that number is) and what better way to spend my time than focusing on that which makes me happy? A lot of time (at least for me lately) has been spent on being angry and on things that do not make me happy? Why in the world am I doing that, it takes too much time and energy to be angry at something or someone, and it takes away from the time that I could be focusing on for things that make me happy. Seems very simple and easy in theory, but putting it to practice is much harder, but not impossible.

I am thankful that my daughter decided to get up early today (she is normally the last of the 4 kids to get out of bed) and wait patiently for me, all because she was spending time doing something that makes her happy, seeing me. It almost brought me to tears to see her waiting there for me, and I realized in that moment that I no longer want to waste my time on negative things, only positive.

The happiness spectrum works in the professional world as well. Unfortunately we all do not have the luxury of working on only the things that make us happy, if you do, let me know what you are doing and I want to do that too! Sometimes we have to work on / focus on things that make us less happy, but they are sometimes a necessary evil of the working world (notice I said less happy, not angry, I am changing already). The key is to keep those less happy things to a minimum, but sometimes they get the best of you. The first step to recovery is recognizing that you are spending time on unhappy things, the next challenge is making the changes necessary to minimize the unhappiness and maximize the happiness.

Companies that find themselves in pissing matches with their competition or political candidates spending their time slandering their opponents, these are just a few examples of wasting time on things that do not make you happy (well, at least I think so, perhaps they enjoy it and then they are just sick and twisted, IMHO). Less time on negativity and more time on positivity makes for an all around better environment.  I know this sounds a bit fluffy and feel good, but if we all just took a moment to give it some thought and just try, then maybe the world, or at least you own little corner of it, might be a little better as a result.

END happy, feel good rant