I can’t tell you the amount of times someone has responded to the idea of choosing happy as a rejection of other states, almost as a repression of negative emotions. I’d like to clear up this misconception of the message of Choose Happy.
Let’s work with the metaphor of an ice cream shoppe. When I’m choosing the flavor of ice cream I’d like to experience, I don’t get angry at yesterday’s craving, I don’t reject or criticize the past flavor. I’m choosing a new flavor for the sake of enjoyment and variety, not in order to reject Strawberry Cheesecake in favor of Sweet Cream.
When I choose something new, I do so from a place of abundance, knowing that all flavors are open to me at all times. Someone else (or even my past self) might choose to experiment with anger because anger, in that case, is so much better than repression.
That said, you might use your old standby as a contrast when choosing your new favorite. It’s okay for a particular flavor to get old, not fit so much anymore, and often we’ll find that the new desired state is the polar opposite of the previous one.
However, there’s an enormous difference between choosing something new and judging/rejecting/criticizing our past go-to. Our past self needed that emotion, that flavor, for whatever reason (no justification needed).
The all-important difference is that right now, this version of you is loving the idea of a waffle cone filled with cookies and cream. That’s the focus. If you want to feel gratitude, feel it. If you want to feel abundance, feel it! If you don’t want to feel those feelings, that’s okay too.
Yesterday, you chose a flavor. Honor that, without judgment. Now, you get to choose again. What’s it going to be?