Who's in Charge of Your Happiness?

Have you ever stopped to contemplate who, or what, holds the key to you being happy? Sure, there are many things happening all around us in our lives that bring us happiness or make us feel a certain kind of way. And those are nice things. Beautiful things. But what happens to you when those circumstances change? Then what? Does your happiness go walking right out the door with the absence of whatever it was that brought you this joy?

I was at the gym the other day listening to my electro-tunes. This really funky house remix came on of an old Dolly Parton song called, Jolene. The song is about a woman named Jolene that Dolly feels is capable of taking her man from her. The song is basically Dolly begging this woman not to do this, as she "could never love again". Now one line in this song really struck me. Dolly says at one point, "my happiness depends on you, Jolene". I almost dropped a weight on my foot when I heard that. Dang...

First of all, you've gotta think about what this means for poor Dolly. She's bestowed the responsibility of her happiness upon two other people in her world. Number one, this man that she needs to maintain, and number 2, this other woman who's actions she can't control. Talk about giving your power away. 😬 Do you think this is OK?

I'm not saying to NOT be sad when someone leaves your life. That shit hurts real bad. I've found the pain in lost love to be among the worst things that we have to endure. But this is really something worth thinking about. Many times, we commit the crime of putting someone or something else in charge of "making us happy". What a disastrous way to go through life that is. I know that sounds harsh, but it is. How could you possibly place that responsibility on anything other than yourself? What a heavy weight to burden someone else with. Not to mention the fact that this is a gross loss of control over ones self. How could you relinquish this control? It's far too important of an aspect of your life if you ask me.

Life really sucks sometimes in this way. Of course we all find some happiness in the presence of those things in our lives that we truly love. Most of the time it is the people around us that make us feel this way. But need I remind you, you have no control over people? The only one you can control is YOU. You can't control someone walking out of your life. Therefore, you should not allow them to have the power over your happiness. You need to learn to be self sufficient in this way. The sad truth is, the only one you've got to count on is, well, You. Your inner being. Your soul. The ONLY one who will NEVER leave you. Why not put that guy in charge of your happiness?