Many of us are searching for the way to happiness in our lives and many of us search for this illusive, alien thing and never find it.We all dream of it when we are young, and then give up on ever finding it when we grow old and when life has taken its toll on us.

We die upset with ourselves, full of unfulfilled dreams and regrets about our lives. Sadness may be all we seem to experience. But that need not be the case. The thing is where are we seeking happiness in the first place.

If our search for happiness is in the outside world, we may never find it.

All things, jobs, roles, people are only temporary. They will all pass with time, but most of us do not want to acknowledge that. We believe things will "last forever" and are disappointed when they do not; then,when things change in our lives, any happy feelings or memories seem to be put on a back burner.

The way to happiness is only found within our very selves. We choose whether we are going to experience happiness or misery, no matter what happens to us.

Right at this very moment, you can experience joy or sadness; which will you choose? Place your mind on a time when you felt really happy and joyful, allow yourself to experience this for a few moments. Then, remember a time when you felt sad.

Now, you have a choice to make.

You can either, live in the past, remembering sad things or you can choose to put your focus on a happy memory and think about that every day to create joy in your life. In fact, anytime you want to feel better, all you need to do is focus on a happy time in your life and keep returning your focus on that throughout the day when your mind wanders.

Better still; why not build on that memory with other happy times, until you have a portfolio of happy events to draw on?

Unpleasant things will happen to all of us at some point in our lives, but we do not need to let them spoil our happiness.

The way to happiness is to realise that we control our mind even though it may feel as if our mind is controlling us. Happiness is a choice.

When will you make your own happiness your priority in life?