Responsibility for Happiness

Responsibility for Happiness:
Don't expect other people to make you happy. Happiness is your responsibility.

It is you and only you who determine your own feelings each and every day. Some people have a tendency to blame other people for the way they are feeling. Other people are not responsible for your feelings, you are - you own them, you control them.

It is true that there are those who give us joy when we are in their company. It is important, however, to realize that it is not the other person who gives us feelings of happiness. Instead, it is how we view and think about them - it is our own thoughts that we control that leads to the feeling of happiness.

When we cannot find feelings of happiness within,
it is foolhardy to think that we can seek it elsewhere.

On the other hand, some people get caught in the trap of trying to satisfy everyone else and end up, in return, becoming very unhappy themselves. Trying to make other people happy is akin to doing your child's homework for them and then expecting them to pass the exam. You can help them, share your knowledge and experience, but they are the ones who have to study and retain; you cannot do it for them. The same principle applies to happiness - you're responsible for your own happiness.


"Happiness depends upon ourselves."
Aristotle