The idea that you can choose to be happy is hardly a new one. But I read an article recently that reminded me that I can always choose to be happy and, right now, I am happy in large part because I choose to be.

I'll let some of our other CE's tackle the central premise of this article but this is what got me thinking...

Of course, we’d be loath to admit it in this day and age, but ask any soul-baring 40-year-old single heterosexual woman what she most longs for in life, and she probably won’t tell you it’s a better career or a smaller waistline or a bigger apartment. Most likely, she’ll say that what she really wants is a husband (and, by extension, a child).... every woman I know—no matter how successful and ambitious, how financially and emotionally secure—feels panic, occasionally coupled with desperation, if she hits 30 and finds herself unmarried.

I'm over 40, I'm not married and I have no children. Apparently I must be desperately unhappy. But I'm not. How on earth did that happen?

Another recent series of articles about a study also got me thinking about how I could possibly be happy. According to the study, "misery dominates middle age."

The researchers, whose study will be published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, found that in the United States happiness reached its lowest point around age 40 in women and age 50 in men. In Britain, unhappiness was greatest in men and women at age 44.

I'm 45. I'm supposed to just barely rising up from the lowest point in my life. Coupled with being an old maid crazy Chihuahua lady I should be utterly and completely miserable.

All I can say is if this is the worst, then whoo hoo! I cannot wait to get older.

Megan Daum thinks this study might be a good tool to help people feel a little bit better and a little bit less depressed:

But what if we were to enter a therapist's office and be told that feeling depressed is just a natural part of the aging process, the psychological equivalent of extra waistline fat or arthritic knees? Moreover, what if your typical 44-year-old American was told that his depression, while probably not wholly unrelated to some trauma dating back to toddlerhood, is ultimately not all that different from that of 44-year-olds in most of the world?

He would, in all likelihood, get a second opinion (or a sports car), but something tells me he might also accomplish the next best thing to actually feeling good: He might feel less depressed about being depressed. That's not a bad way to wait out the years until your 70th birthday.

Lee Randall, across the pond, writing in the Scotsman notes: "The older I get, the more I appreciate my happy moments"

I'd felt it earlier that day, rounding a bend en route to the Picadilly line. With plenty of time to travel, I wasn't rushed. No part of my body hurt. I had money in my wallet. I was meeting someone new and potentially interesting. Not very glamorous, is it? Yet I felt my chest open, my heart expand, and a crystalline momentary bliss descend.

And that is an excellent way to choose happiness - to recognize the little moments.

Don't get me wrong. I am fully aware that getting happy and moving through and past depression is not that simple. It will be hard work for many and will not be achieved without medication and/or therapy. I do not wish to trivialize mental illness. However, many of us could be happier in our lives simply by recognizing that we want to be and choosing to be.

And while I've talked a bit in the past about how to get happy, let me now introduce you to a tiny tip of the iceberg of BlogHers who are blogging choosing happiness:

Pepper Schwartz, PhD says that it is possible to be single and happy but you have to make some choices:

single women must realise that they are "the architects of their own expansion," Schwartz tells WebMD. "Develop a broad number of interests — classes, volunteer work, travel plans, political involvement. What you’re fighting is that home-alone syndrome. You’re making sure people will take you out of everyday life maintenance. When you have a partner, their interests help extend your life. When you’re single, you have to build that in."

Jen Raiche at Box Full Of Blessings writes: "As we begin this new year, let's look for ways to add happiness to our lives. Often, it's as easy as remembering God's blessings in our lives."

Julie at According to HIS Power shares: "Just because I am a Christian does not mean I have all the answers or that I ever will. However, that's okay. Today I choose happiness and choose to rest in the knowledge that God's perfect plan will be revealed to me in Heaven."

Laurel at The Tea Party Place says: "The picture of our life is first determined by the brush we choose to paint it with. Happiness is a choice."

Choosing Happiness at Choosing Happiness after Divorce offers this suggestion: "In Choosing Happiness after Divorce: A woman's 52 week guide to living a positive life, I emphasize the importance of journal writing. Journaling provides you with an escape valve to release emotion, to establish goals for yourself, to think through problems that arise and to contemplate all you have to feel grateful for in your life."

Tanine Harvey at Square Rootz writes: "Happiness says: no matter what happens, in spite of who aggravates me, and when my plan fails, I choose happiness! Choosing to be happy takes a conscious effort. Happiness is being content with what you have while you create what you want."

Museandthemoon at Mommadramma and the Hope Family has a slightly different take on the subject: "Some of our choices for happiness come from how we address fear….and I mean like things that are freaking freaky deeky scary. If we continue to fear (seriously fearful things) we are patterning our thoughts to create actions that act upon the fear. Just simply by having the fear we are allowing that fearful thing to enter our lives."

Willow Raven at Eugene or Bust! states emphatically: "Happiness is FREE WILL."

And Carol Rodda at Carol's Chit Chat realizes: "Life is just so full of fun moments and discoveries, if we will only chose to enjoy them. This for me is happiness."

How do you choose happiness?

Despite being happy, BlogHer CE Maria Niles still calls one of her blogs Beyond Help