#100HappyDays

By:  Ayana Bryant-Weekes

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” -Thomas Jefferson via The Declaration of Independence 

This is one of my favorite quotes. It's the legal (and quite eloquent) verbiage of every human’s most basic rights that embodies more than we even realize to which we own the rights. To so carefully choose his words and enlist the pursuit of happiness as an unalienable right instead of just plain happiness, Mr. Jefferson must have known what a lot of us are still trying to figure out; that happiness is not a destination, it’s a decision.

Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed friends of mine posting pictures on Instagram, Twitter etc. with the hashtag #100HappyDays. At the time I was too lazy to explore the hashtag and see what it was all about but God kept it in my spirit. In the days immediately following I had one of the best days of my life. I spent the day with my best friend getting pedicures and trying new flavors of ice cream on one of the first sunny days of the season. The atmosphere was great and at the end of the day I breathed a sigh of relief, I needed another day like that. Surprisingly, I did. Though less eventful, the next day was just as satisfying – and the next day, and the next day.

Without even knowing it I managed to produce seven happy days in a row. Upon this realization I finally decided to look into the #100HappyDaysChallenge. To my surprise I was basically doing what the challenge called for, I just wasn’t taking pictures. I consciously repelled negativity and anything that didn’t appease my already happy disposition and I made sure I was aware of what was making me happy.

I used to think that the idea of happiness as a decision was just dumb. Why would anyone decide against being happy? Anyone with sense, if given the choice, would automatically choose to be happy…wouldn’t they? The crazy thing is, some people don’t, knowingly and unknowingly. Everyday, we make decisions that either honor or dishonor what we need to be happy. If we aren’t careful we can turn our focus to the wrong things and never see the forest for the tree.

God gifted us an entire world to experience and marvel over, what a disservice we would do to ourselves to let it pass us by with no regard for what it could do for our souls. I’m not sure if Mr. Jefferson knew the magnitude of what he was saying by adding a pursuit to the idea of happiness but the next 93 days of my life will consciously honor the that unalienable right which God so graciously granted us all.