Choose Happiness

Let me tell you a story about Maddie.

When Maddie was six months old, her parents took her to the zoo. Unfortunately, on that fateful day, an emu escaped. Not thinking it would be a big deal, Maddie's parents continued their day as normal until they met with the emu. Then it bit Maddie's left arm clean off!

Tragically, the arm could not be reattached because the emu swallowed it, but then a miracle happened! Despite the odds, Maddie spent the next couple of years learning to walk and talk! Her doctors and parents had never seen someone without an arm just walk with such ease before. Maddie had that fighting spirit. She was determined to beat every challenge that came her way!

When Maddie reached six years old, she was miraculously playing with friends outside when the weather turned dark. Not one to let herself be led by fear, she ignored the pleas of her friends to come inside because it was raining. She carried on, soaking wet sitting in the mud. The wind picked up, hurricane force. The trees around her swayed and groaned, but Maddie stayed put. Then with one almighty gust, Maddie was picked up off the ground and blown away by the wind, most likely because she couldn't hold on properly with just one hand. She wasn't seen again for five years.

At sixteen Maddie was once again allowed to leave the house alone for short periods. Keen to enjoy her limited freedom, she skipped along the path delivering a casserole to her elderly neighbor's home, all with one hand. She sang alone with the birds, feeling the cool breeze on her face and thanking God for another beautiful day.

Then a tree fell on her. 

Both legs were crushed and now Maddie has three missing limbs. There was a very messy lawsuit.

You know whatever became of Maddie? She got an education and is now an attorney for those who have suffered horrible accidents. You see, Maddie was gifted. She was born with a success mindset. She never let any tragedy get in the way of empowerment. She elevated herself, showed up every single day and took it to the next level! She had no excuses.

I tell you this story because I want you to feel inspired by Maddie's will and determination. I want this to be an example why you will never have an excuse for not succeeding. It is all a matter of mindset and mindset is a choice!

You can read up more on how to optimize your success mindset here, but another important element to changing your mindset is by simply controlling your emotions. You can choose to be sad and miserable about the horrible tragedies in your life, or you can simply be happy like Maddie!

When we choose happiness, we are elevating ourselves and each other. This leads to increased innovation and therefore takes our businesses to the next level and one level closer to financial freedom.

Let's look at this impressive flow chart:

We all face tragedies in our lives and it is up to all of us how we react to it. Imagine if you were Maddie and you suddenly lost your arm to an emu, you have two options. You can be sad about it or you can be happy about it. This is the choice we have every single day.

When we choose sadness, we cannot grow, therefore we cannot innovate, therefore we cannot impact others, therefore we cannot empower others, therefore we cannot take our businesses to the next level, therefore we cannot achieve financial freedom, therefore we will always be sad.

When we choose happiness, we can use our tragedies to innovate and promote our businesses. Think about how inspiring Maddie is because she remembers her own name in the morning despite missing most of her limbs. When we choose happiness, we choose to inspire others! This makes us great leaders and optimizes our success mindset. Only when we are in a position to be able to lead, inspire and innovate can we achieve financial freedom!

Now, choosing happiness may seem easier said than done, but with enough practice, you will be able to suppress all negative emotions in a completely healthy way. Think about it. Nothing is unhealthy about absolute and constant positivity. It's just a simple matter of choosing bliss at every single opportunity every single day.

Let's provide a more solid example, something I rarely do. Say the barista gets your drink slightly wrong. Normally this would result in a formal complaint. How do you feel normally when complaining to a manager? Angry? Sad that your order is wrong? Let's try approaching this situation with joy. You are empowering the barista by making sure they never make this mistake again because they will be unable to do so if they're fired on the spot. You are doing this out of love and compassion for not only coffee, but the barista themselves. Now they no longer have a job, you have an opportunity, a business opportunity! And just like that, you have another boss babe in your downline! This would never have happened if you chose sadness and sulked all day. This is proof that the system works!