I realized as I was reading chapter fifteen that I don't really know anyone that wants to be happy, not according to how Michael defines choosing happiness. All of us say we want to be happy but we have "a deep-seated set of preferences" that we choose over and over again as more important than our happiness. Really wanting to be happy is about letting go of the qualifying of our happiness.
I want to be happy but my car isn't working.
I want to be happy but I am 10 pounds overweight.
I want to be happy but my boss is a tyrant.
I want to be happy but I had terrible childhood.
I want to be happy but I have had a string of bad luck.
I want to be happy but my spouse drives me crazy.
I want to be happy but I don't have all the money I need to do all the things I want.
I want to be happy but my kids are not making the choices I want them to make.
Really wanting to be happy is choosing happiness in all conditions.
What is really cool about making the decision to be unconditionally happy is not that I will instantaneously be happy forever more, but that I will get to see/recognize what I am making more important than my own happiness. What I am allowing to get in my way. When we consciously see the reasons we are selling out on our own happiness, my bet is that nine times out of ten we will easily be able to let go of the reason for not being happy, and be able to find our happiness again.
Now this may seem ridiculous, to choose happiness when things appear to be going wrong. What could possibly be the benefit of that? Well, in Michael's words, "your heart will be so open and your spirit so free, that you will soar up to the heavens." Choosing happiness even when there are justifications for not being happy is the key to "the peace that passeth all understanding," the freedom that generations of people have fought for, and the unconditional love upon which all religions have been based.
LOP is choosing joy over my set of preferences.