We make decisions on a regular basis from moment to moment that affects us quite radically if we are not careful. We understand the concept of trading. You exchange one thing for another. But what you are trading must be of equal if not greater value. In our lifetimes, there are numerous examples of this and some transactions lead to a less than worthy exchange.This leads to stress, and unravelling of the mind, with a downward spiral of malcontent, frustrations, disappointment and eventual anger. Why was that trade not a good one, and what did we lose in the process. Sometimes we do not even realize the transaction until it is too late. When you swap one thing for another, and unwittingly realize that the trade was not fair, these emotions arise that will take you down the wrong road. Whatever you trade has to be fair, or you lose your happiness. What is the price of losing your happiness?

Imagine a dollar bill that is brand new in mint condition, and it now is launched into circulation. It changes owners innumerable times, changing hands,wallets, purses, cash drawers, and sometimes even goes through the washer  in a pocket of your jeans. But as worn as it might be, fraying at the edges, almost faded, it still holds its value. A dollar bill is a dollar bill till you give it away. And so is the case with your happiness. It is a very important commodity but we do not respect it and it leads to our eventual destruction and lack of value when we give it away. We succumb to the decisions of others either at home or at work or literally anywhere to shape our future, our happiness, our purpose and our lives. Is this a fair trade?

Living in the moment and enjoying the moment without fear or prejudice enables us to retain the integrity of that happiness. We can shape the way it looks, feels, and augment its power to unlimited potential all by a slight change and tweek of attitude. Close your eyes and imagine everything  that makes you happy. Whether it is a beautiful sunny day, a colorful flower, a child’s smile, an unexpected call from a dear friend, a tasty treat. Anything that fills you up with light heartedness and joy and happiness. Now list everything that gives you unhappiness and makes you frown. Whether it is arguing with a coworker, fighting with a loved one over trivial matters, scolding a child for an irrelevant issue, panic over the economy or your job. Anything that resembles your fear, anxiety, or stress. Now do a tally. Are any items in the happy category worth giving up and being traded for the unhappy items? Like baseball cards are you willing to trade them for a lesser item? I think not.

Similarly we are in such a negative habit pattern that we automatically trade our joy, our happiness so quickly we do not even realize that the transaction has been made. Slow down, do less, and be more present and aware of your trading habits. Do not break the bank with so much of loss that you go broke with nothing left to trade because that is when your mental destruction is not far from you. Your lack of peace is never worth giving up for anyone else’s happiness or for anything. This is not a selfish statement, since if you are happy and at peace, all you have to give freely is more of the same and when you are in that frame of mind, you are giving it unconditionally, and then the trade is like compound interest with no loss, and it grows and returns in leaps and bounds.

Make your dollar bill value into a hundred dollars to make it worth trading. Your happiness is worth more than you know.