Excerpted from: Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow

We can have better lives if we make up our minds to do so. The choice is ours. Wherever we go, there we are, as the people we have decided to be. We decide. That’s the revelation. We decide if we are going to live lives that are bitter or sweet. We decide, in every moment, to respond from peace or from fear. We decide.

The truth is, it doesn’t take very much effort to make our lives “sweeter.” It does take willingness, though – willingness to make tiny shifts in how we perceive our experiences and our fellow travelers. Instead of perceiving everyone and everything as a potential threat or obstacle, we can choose to approach each moment as an opportunity to be peaceful. And each time we choose the peaceful response, we are paving the way not only for our own happiness but for a peaceful world as well.

Joy is always available to us, moment by moment. But we must keep our minds open and pay attention. A closed mind or a mind filled with fear or judgment will never know joy. A red rose beginning to open, a willow tree swaying in the breeze, the rainbow after a shower, the dew glistening on each blade of grass in the early morning, a baby taking her first steps–all these moments hold the potential for joy.