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Sunday 21 September 2014

Toyosi Phillips: Happiness is the Truth


On my flight back to New York recently, I Googled, “Is it OK to be this happy?” It goes without saying that I was stupidly happy at that moment and had been that way for a while. Funny thing is I couldn’t categorically say why. I didn’t know if it was seeing/spending time with my mom that had me in that good mood or if it was the credit alert I had just received or if it was the aftermath of spending time with my “big sister’s” adorable baby. I didn’t know what it was… I don’t know what it is because over a week later I’m still that happy. My heart is full.
The question now is, why did I have to google, “is it OK to be this happy?”? Did a part of me think that wasn’t normal? Or perhaps that I didn’t deserve that level of happiness? It made me wonder; how many people daily suppress their happiness because they think it’s not normal? How many people daily think they’ve done so much wrong and only deserve happiness in trickles or they think about everything that’s not going right in their lives and listen to The Voices- those ones that remind them that all their mates have good jobs and they are still looking for an internship . The voices which say they’re overweight and single; that level of happiness is only for people with husbands/wives and kids, or that their rent will be due in a few days and they still haven’t come up with the funds so that spark of happiness should be non-existent? How many people have listened to those lies and put out the fire of happiness blazing in them?
For anyone who has ever felt the need to ask the question, “is it OK to be this happy?” the answer is a resounding YES! Not just because several articles on Google agree, but because we all should be happy! Happiness keeps us optimistic. A conscious decision to stay happy helps us make essential life-altering changes. A conscious decision to stay happy renews our minds. We start seeing things differently.
It’s OK to feel like chuckling at the slightest thing, to feel a warmth in your heart that you cannot explain and to sing out loud and laugh at the ridiculous lyrics of songs. There’s nothing wrong with you. No, you’re not oblivious to the issues you have to deal with and no, you’re not living in lala land. You’re simply making a conscious decision not to be overwhelmed by life and that is commendable.
So today I choose to be happy and I choose to stay happy, regardless.

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