Commit to being happy

John worked in a large corporation for thirty years and took early retirement at age 54. For a few years he enjoyed traveling. Then John decided to fulfill a long held dream of turning his hobby of furniture crafting into a business. He expanded his home workshop and started his second career. However, his business was successful but John was not  happy. He liked creating and his sense of accomplishment but the isolation was depressing.

What John wanted was to learn how to love his situation. He was grateful for the opportunity to have his own successful business and felt somewhat guilty for not being happy. John was missing the balance that is important to life. When he was younger he threw himself into his work, and he was successful, but he was not happy. When he retired, John found he loved creating and building, and created a successful business doing just that. Yet he was not happy.

Commit to being happy, but to do that self reflection is needed, as well as self understanding. John did not know himself as well as he thought. John needed to share his passion. Once John realized this he was able to take the time to rekindle his love for his partner and to bring that person into the emotional side of his life. Understanding your own needs, then reaching out to those you love is one of the first steps to a commitment to being happy.