Hi there, it’s been a while… How are you?

Feeling happy?

If not, why not?

I’ve been delighted by the numerous responses to my “how are you” post, but a lot less delighted that the majority of them say “I’m not happy, I don’t know how to be happy and I don’t believe I can just choose to be happy in the first place!”

Pardon? Excuse me?   WHAT?

People used to believe we couldn’t fly to the moon (some still don’t), harness the power of elastic-trickery, or find any use at all for that glue that didn’t stick.

Most people do not believe they can control their emotions because it has never occurred to them to do it.

What a crazy idea! It’s like being ten thousand feet high in the cockpit of a stunt plane and not knowing how to fly!

People who do not control their emotions are adrift. Victims of the tides and currents of life.  Do you want to be a victim?  No?

Then take control.  But how?

Strangely, happiness is not a subject often taught in schools.  For most it’s not even something your parents show you.

You learn to fly watching people who’ve never left the ground.  And what if you do find a master pilot, one who swoops and soars, performing awesome acrobatics and majestic gliding?  You try to copy but it’s difficult to understand their actions from the floor, especially as you’re usually flying a different type of plane!  Different engine, different shape, different weight, different controls… Do you want to perform stunts or just gently glide? And are some aircraft better suited to staying on the ground?

Most people just sit back and try to enjoy the ride.  Only occasionally wiggling the controls out of panic when they feel they’re about to crash.

They blame the plane.  If only it flew better.  If only it went faster.  If only they could climb out of the valleys they wouldn’t have to keep avoiding these cliffs!

A better plane, that’s the answer.  A more skilful co-pilot.  (Perhaps a sexier co-pilot?)

A skilled pilot could fly on an anvil.  Or at least fall with style.

Stop externalising your problems.  I’ll type that again:

Stop externalising YOUR problems.

Take control.  Take charge.  Fly the plane, no matter how rusty and damaged it may be.

Money is not the answer.  Most rich people are not happy, they have to spend too much time protecting their wealth.  That’s too heavy a burden for any but the most skilled pilot to lift off the ground.  How would you like to be suspicious of your friends? To be constantly chased and harassed by incessant paparazzi?

“Not me,” I hear you think, “It’ll be different for me”.

Really?

You’re just fooling yourself, your subconscious mind is trying to make you feel better.  It’s making an excuse for why you don’t feel happy now.  It’s not your fault, you don’t have the money, your plane only has one engine and it’s running out of fuel.  You just lack the tools, you poor workman.

So how much money would it take for you to be blissfully happy? I mean totally contented, ecstatically pleased, joyful for the rest of your life?

One million dollars? Ten million? A hundred million?

Let’s make it a billion. $1,000,000,000.   That’s a lot of zeros.

And let’s give you the chance to win it. The chance to win one billion dollars. Then you’ll be happy for the rest of your days, blissfully contented.  Won’t you?

But let’s not decide it by chance, your happiness is not decided by the flip of a coin or a random dice roll. Happiness is a game of skill. Your skill.

So, let’s play a tennis match. One billion dollars riding on a tennis match. The greatest financial reward of your life decided by hitting a ball over a net.

Shall we play the match today or would you like some time to prepare? How about 3 months time? Are you going to spend those three months improving your tennis skills? Are you going to pay for lessons? To invest your time mastering the sport? You bet. Of course you would, this is $1,000,000,000 we’re talking about!

So why aren’t you investing in something worth more than a billion dollars? We already know money can’t make you happy, but you can.

Why not invest your time in learning how to work this fabulous device called “the mind”? Why not master it, so when you play your imaginary tennis match you’re certian to win?  (At least now you realise there’s a match going on and you’re expected to play!)

But perhaps you’re too busy, you need some motivation, some urgency to learn?

The happy match isn’t coming in three months time. The fight to be happy is today, tomorrow and every day. You’ll have to keep battling, you’ll have to stay fit, you’ll have to keep improving you skills, You never know what opponent is coming next!

Shall we cheat? Shall we master the game?  Would you like to learn to fly?

The opportunity to be happy is there for the taking. Once you know where to look you just have to reach out and grab it.

So take it.

Now.