Happiness means different things to different people or rather it is experienced by different people in different ways. What one might find pleasurable might disgust or horrify another. A mother finds happiness in looking after her baby whereas a junkie finds heaven in his next fix. Happiness is distinct to an individual.
A while back, I read in a magazine that each one of us has an emotional base line. You ride out the various crests and troughs of the wave – happiness to sadness to regret to ecstasy and every emotion in between – during your life. When you’re happy/sad, you ride the crest/trough, respectively, for a certain period of time and return to your base line. Some people may have their core base line riding a little closer to the crest and others to the trough. Most of the time, you hover in and around this base line though. But you always, always, return to the base line. It’s in your hands to ride the crest for a little longer.
Image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
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Happiness is a choice. Sounds like a load of crap, doesn’t it? But, really, think about it. You choose to be either happy or sad; nobody else does. It’s your life – you have to find happiness in it and you and you alone are capable of seeking and finding it. Nobody else can go and gift wrap it for you.
Try to find happiness in whatever you do – big, important, life-changing things or small, insignificant, mundane things of life. Take a break from your hectic work or whatever occupation you’re involved in and try to enjoy the simple things around you. Watch the sunrise/sunset – alone or with someone close to you, read a good book, go for a walk, and just enjoy the natural beauty around you, take care of your pet, pursue your hobby – which you might have given up because of your work, or just listen to some music to soothe your strung out nerves. Or if you find happiness in someone’s company – family or friends – go for it. Catch up.
Image source: Google, copyright-free image under Creative Commons License
Circumstances are created by powers that are out of our control, and that your happiness is either directly or indirectly proportional to another’s. In some situations, it can’t be avoided or helped, like parents’ happiness tied in with their kids’, a spouse looking out for their partner, and such. But even then, you are an individual apart from the relationships you are either born with or tied to, throughout your life. The people you’re tied to with these relationships account for a large part of your life – agreed. But that doesn’t mean that your personal well-being be tied to them. You have to be careful as to not let these weigh you down.
I’m not suggesting you put on a big, stupid grin on your face even when you’re hurting – physically or emotionally, or both. The essential truth of life is that: shit happens. Deal with it and move on. You can’t be stuck there and keep on hurting forever. It may seem impossible or hurt even more, just to think about moving on, but the best thing is to move on. Look to the unpredictable future instead of the irrevocable past. Reminisce about the past, sure. But don’t dwell on it too much that it ruins your present and mars your future too. Maybe sometimes, the best way to forget about all of life’s worries is to live like there’s no tomorrow and there never was a yesterday.
Image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
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It’s such a cliché, but I’m gonna write it regardless: Never leave home angry. You don’t know what’ll happen in the next moment. Never leave without a goodbye. Family is very important in life – the one you were born into or the one you make with the most important people in your life. Spend as much time as possible with your loved ones and make memories. Great ones. And cherish them. The beauty of memories is that they don’t change and they’re never lost. Even though you don’t remember all of them anymore, the vague snapshots that something or someone triggers are so worth it. The pathways they created in your brain are always with you. Memories are the only infinity for us mortals.
I part with this quote for everyone to mull over: “Being happy doesn’t mean everything’s perfect. It means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections.”
Remember, happiness is a choice; you NEED to choose to be happy.
Featured image source: Google, copyright-free image under Creative Commons License
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