Perhaps the true meaning of happiness will remain a mystery…. probably because it’s not a one-size fits all sort of thing- but I can tell you one thing with utmost certainty that happiness is a choice.

For Emily, that’s all she knows. She cannot talk to us with words, she cannot even write her name, count to 3, or use the bathroom on her own. She faces and will face many challenges in her life, but she still chooses to see the good. To be happy.

She always stops to enjoy the world around her. The little things that we may sometimes take for granted without even meaning to.

The wind rustling in the trees, the birds chirping, the beautiful blue in the sky. The rain falling on her nose, the snow on the ground after a winter storm or someone walking by our house with their dog.

God gaves us these things and she knows that. It’s hip to be happy!

In fact, it’s not just hip to be happy; it’s an inalienable right, according to the founding document of our country. And the exact wording—“the pursuit of happiness”—is apropos, as happiness is a state that we must constantly strive to achieve. But you can catch it—if you choose to try.

Making little changes in your ordinary day can have a huge impact on the happiness you feel on an every day basis. Ask my teenager, I tell her this all the time.

Happiness is a choice. For every minute you are angry or irritated, you lose 60 seconds of happiness. Be happy. Be yourself. If others don’t like it, then let them be. Life isn’t about pleasing everybody.

If you have the courage to admit when you’re scared, the ability to laugh even as you cry, the nerve to speak up, even if your voice is shaking, the confidence to ask for help when you need it, and the wisdom to take it when it’s offered, then you have everything you need to get yourself to a happier state of mind.

Carry on and choose happy. I promise you won’t regret it.

This post inspired by Emily and her amazing outlook on life despite her disabilities. By my teenager daughter who sometimes acts like the world would be a better place without her in it. Trust me Ashley, it wouldn’t! By Lillian, who challenges me to choose happy even when she is having a temper tantrum and giving new meaning to the terrible 2′s. And lastly, by all of the C17 parents who refer to their child as a suffering. I pray that they find the happiness God wants them to have.