Why Choose Happiness Now?

We often put happiness off in the distance, far, far away, or on a pedestal so high that we feel we will never reach it. But why do we do this? What stops us from believing that happiness is available to us right now?

Sometimes, I think we don’t feel worthy of happiness. Maybe we believe we are not good enough, smart enough, or simply “enough.” We convince ourselves that we need to be more, have more, or do more in order to be happy. You know what I’m talking about—the old “I will be happy when…” game. We set conditions for happiness: I will be happy when I get that job, when I lose weight, when I find the right partner, when I have more money. And so, we continue to delay happiness indefinitely. I know I’ve been guilty of this many times in my life.

It’s like pressing the ‘pause’ button on happiness. You know how you pause a movie or a song so you don’t miss anything while you attend to something else? The difference is, when we pause happiness, we are not putting it on hold temporarily—we are denying ourselves happiness in the present moment. We are telling ourselves, I can’t be happy now. It’s just not possible. And we believe that something outside of us has to change before happiness is allowed in.

But here’s the problem: Life doesn’t pause along with our happiness. Unlike a movie or a song, life continues moving forward. Time keeps ticking. Babies are born, children grow, opportunities come and go. Meanwhile, we are waiting for the “right” conditions to be happy, missing out on precious moments that will never come again. The truth is, life is happening right now. And if we keep pressing that pause button on happiness, we may look back one day and realise we’ve spent years waiting instead of truly living.

On the other hand, some of us try to fast forward to a future where we finally have it all together. We become so focused on what’s ahead that we forget to enjoy what’s happening right now. We think, One day, when I have my dream job, my perfect home, and my finances in order, then I’ll be happy. But happiness doesn’t exist in the future any more than it exists in the past. The only place happiness can ever truly exist is now—in this moment.

Think about it. When you remember a time in the past when you were happy, you are recalling it now. When you dream about how happy you’ll be in the future, you are imagining it now. In both cases, the feeling of happiness is always experienced in the present.

So, why do we continue to chase external things—money, fame, recognition—believing they will make us happy? If these things truly guaranteed happiness, then we would see a lot more happy people in Hollywood. But we don’t. We see wealth and success, yes, but we also see stress, depression, and dissatisfaction. Fame doesn’t guarantee happiness. Money doesn’t buy happiness. And success doesn’t necessarily mean fulfillment.

Yet we still chase after “more.” Why? Because we’ve been conditioned to believe in the myth of more. We think, If I just had more—more money, more love, more success—then I’d be happy. But this way of thinking sets up a dangerous pattern: If happiness depends on having more, then it also means we can’t be happy until we have more. And if we never reach that elusive “more,” we continue to believe happiness is out of reach.

The truth is, choosing happiness now is not about having more—it’s about shifting our perspective. It’s about realising that happiness isn’t something we find out there; it’s something we cultivate within.

So, how do you choose happiness now?

It starts with awareness. Simply recognizing that you can choose happiness in this moment is powerful. You don’t have to wait for perfect conditions. You don’t have to achieve a milestone. You don’t have to be different from who you are right now. Happiness is a choice, and it’s available to you at any time.

The key is intention. When we choose happiness, we become intentional about our thoughts, our emotions, and our focus. We stop waiting for happiness to happen to us, and instead, we take ownership of our inner state. Of course, this doesn’t mean ignoring life’s challenges or pretending everything is perfect. It means choosing to find joy, gratitude, and meaning even in the midst of imperfection.

And yes, this takes practice. We are creatures of habit, and our habitual ways of thinking can be deeply ingrained. But just like any habit, we can train ourselves to think differently. We can shift our focus from what we lack to what we have. We can reframe difficulties as opportunities for growth. We can practice gratitude, mindfulness, and self-compassion. We can decide, over and over again, that happiness is not something we have to wait for—it’s something we can step into, right now.

So, let’s stop pressing pause. Let’s stop waiting. Let’s stop believing the myth that happiness is somewhere in the future, just out of reach.

Happiness is here. Happiness is now. And happiness is yours to choose.