Who comes first in your life?  I can bet that just about everyone but you comes first.  Why is that? Is it because that is what you learned when you were young?  Did your role models put everyone else’s needs before their own? Probably.  Now, look back and try to recall if those role models exhibited happiness and fulfillment?  I bet they didn’t.  How do we learn to be happy and fulfilled if we were not taught how or didn’t have role models who modeled those behaviors for us?  Is there a switch we can flip on or a certain age/time when we magically find happiness and fulfillment?  No.  Could this be why so many of us find it hard to be happy?  Do we just not know how?  Is the ability to find and/or create something we are born with or is it a learned behavior?

I do not have the answers to these questions, although I wish I did!  I am just as perplexed about these questions as everyone else is.  What I do know is that whatever the case, I must find happiness within myself before I can give it to others.  I also know that my positive outlook and overall level of happiness – on a consistent basis – helps others be happier.   I have found that by taking care of my own needs and doing things that help me feel fulfilled, it is easier for me to be happier and then share that happiness with others.

Remember, you cannot give away what you do not have.  Find, create, manifest, fabricate or do whatever it is you need to do to put yourself first (without guilt from within or from others) and know that by getting to that level of happiness, you will be able to model it and give it to others.  Be the happiness you want to see in the world!