Standards

We all have them even if we don’t know it.  We know our standards of living by how we feel once these standards are not met.  A standard is said to be “an acknowledged measure of comparison for quantitative or qualitative value; a criterion; a degree or level of requirement, excellence, or attainment; a requirement of moral conduct; a pedestal, stand, or base.”  In short, it is the basis of how we live our lives.  As you know, I’ve been trying to push positivity down everyone’s psyche with every single post that I write.  And if you haven’t gotten my message in any of the past posts, Happiness is THE standard of living (or at least it’s mine and I think it should be everyone’s number one criterion).  We must decide to make the choices within our life which support that standard of living.

I had a friend mention… in a fashion, the difference between preferences and standards and that many people mistake having preferences and having standards.  And it got me to think as to think of what a standard really is.  A standard can be a preference, however a preference is merely a choice that is made; “the selecting of someone or something over another or others.”  It is not necessarily based on any profound decision-making.  I think my father explained it best when he said “a standard is how you expect to be treated.”  It’s also how you treat people.  If how you’re being treated by someone makes you unhappy, that person does not live up to your standard of living.  As I said, you must keep people in your life who keep you in a positive space and can encourage you when you’re not.  We must continually elevate one another in order to sustain our own happiness.

Now with that said, we must look for our own standards, within our own mind and spirit.  Happiness is a way of life, and the right choices have to be made to nourish it.  So, we must always be honest with ourselves.  We must decide what it is that truly makes us happy and not base it on false representations of happiness.  Though we do gain happiness from material things and moments of pleasure, we are comprised of more than what is seen on the surface to sustain those moments of happiness.

I don’t know what it is that truly makes you happy.  That’s something you have to figure out yourself.  And as I sit here and go over my own list in my head, I wonder how it is that we develop these standards.  Everyone lives differently and defines happiness differently.  And it is by living everyday that we can really pinpoint what it is that makes us happy individually.   There is no right or wrong, unless you in turn cause unhappiness in another for the sake of your own enjoyment or benefit (wrong, wrong, wrong).  Happiness is a state of mind and a way of life.  And no one’s happiness should ever be compromised.

So, after you finish reading this:

1. Set your standards.
2. Find your happiness.
3. Live life.
4. Repeat.