Learn to take control of personal happiness

There was once a surfer who complained about his surfboard having a scratch until he came across another surfer who had a surfboard with a bad ding. The surfer who had the badly dinged surfboard complained until he saw a surfer who had broken his surfboard in half. The surfer who had broken his surfboard complained until he saw a surfer who had no surfboard. The man who had no surfboard did not complain at all because he had nothing to complain about. Moral of the story: He who has been given a lot should have little to complain about.

Personal happiness is a choice less dependent on circumstance and more dependent on attitude. How a surfer views the waves determines his view of the waves. Two different surfers can have two entirely different views of how the same waves are breaking. The view each surfer takes determines his actions. One surfer may look out with little enthusiasm seeing nothing but small mushy waves with little promise. This surfer decides going surfing isn’t worth; it he would rather play video games. The next surfer looks at the same waves enthusiastically, seeing great promise and good rides ahead of time. Stoked up, this surfer decides to go surfing.

Waves in themselves are neither good nor bad unless we make them so. With the right attitude a surfer can have fun on all waves as well as face any challenge. With the wrong attitude, a surfer will find something wrong with any wave. When it comes to challenging moments he has no chance because he will give up before ever starting. Success begins and ends with the proper attitude. A thankful attitude is a proper attitude. A positive attitude is a proper attitude. A loving attitude is a proper attitude. An attitude of “yes I can!” is a proper attitude. Time and time again success and happiness, simply put, come down to having the proper attitude.

Surfers can be extremely picky, especially when it comes to their surfboards. For some, the key to all happiness can be found in a great surfboard. There was once a very skilled big wave surfer who was in search of the perfect surfboard which he could use to ride the big waves. He was constantly getting new surfboards, testing them a few times, inevitably finding something wrong with each one. As quickly as he got new surfboards, he just as quickly discarded them.

On a beautiful sun shining day with the surf up, the same surfer took out a new surfboard. From the very first wave he could tell he was not going to like the surfboard. By the third wave he knew he did not like it. Disappointed, the surfer returned to the beach complaining about the surfboard to his friends. One of his friends was curious as to why the surfboard was so bad because it looked good to him. He asked if he could try the surfboard and the surfer told him to go ahead.

From the very first wave the surfer’s friend loved the way the surfboard rode. No matter how steep the waves he took he was able to make every drop. When it came to maneuverability it turned on a dime, never bogging down or losing speed. By the end of the day, this surfer was catching all the best waves and putting on a dazzling display of surfing. Watching from the shore, the first surfer who had quickly rejected the surfboard in the first place decided to give it a second chance.

The next day, the surfer rode the same surfboard in the same waves with a different attitude experiencing different results. The surfboard he initially rejected turned out to be his most cherished surfboard ever. It turned out that after the surfer watched his friend surf so gallantly the day before, he realized it wasn’t the surfboard that was bad; it was his attitude. It was not the surfboard that needed changing, but his attitude did. In the end, bad luck and misfortune are not the greatest cause of people’s woes and failures - a bad attitude is. It is not always easy to maintain a good attitude but it’s a lot easier than the alternative, that’s for sure.

Attitude is everything! Whether it comes to surfing or life, how you view it is how it is for you. He who sees hope has hope. He who sees a chance has a chance. Happiness is composed of the thoughts that help shape the attitudes that help shape our lives. Regardless of outside circumstances, choose to have an inner attitude that is positive and life will be positive. Its better to be thankful for what we have than to be disgruntled for what we don’t. Life will never hold the man down who keeps his spirit and attitude up. Aloha.