Are you happy?

What does that mean? How do you define your happiness? How do you define another person’s happiness? When I look back on my life and ponder the reasons behind some of the decisions I made, I often wonder if I was truly happy. Was I happy when I was too young to remember? Was I happy and if I was, what does that mean? What matters now is your present happiness. I am a believer in that the past makes you who you are today and I find that to be so beautiful. The art of life is an incredible journey. Look into your past and forgive, reminisce, do whatever it is that you need to in order to find happiness today. They say happiness is the key to life, I say the key to happiness is life.

You wake up every morning with a choice.. What do you do with that choice? Have you laid back down in bed? Have you cried yourself back to sleep? Have you complained because it is too early? OR have you embraced the new day by deciding to make the best one yet? HAPPINESS is a choice. I understand the difficulties with happiness when the world around you isn’t so kind. So, what do you do? I lost my sister when I was 12 years old, by far the hardest years of my life came shortly after that. Grief, confusion, loss of identity, lack of faith, guilt.. All of the above.. I thank God every single day that he took me through that journey in the way He did, the ups and downs developed the person I am today. It was a life-changing experience for not only me, but for my family. There comes a time when you get to choose whether or not you can be happy again.. You are worth it and whatever it is that has caused you such devastation shall be forgiven. Forgiveness is not for anything or anyone else but you..

So, when I ask you to define happiness, what did you say? Happiness is a smile, a look on a face, a feeling, a success, a positive experience, an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction. All of the above? While writing this, I can’t help but think that happiness is a process, not a process like a job but rather a constant growing emotion that develops a new meaning each day.

When thinking about whether or not you’re happy, I want you to consider yourself first. What is going through your head right now? What is it about the word “happy” that makes us doubt ourselves? Do we strive too much to be different than we are? Often times, yes.. This world is full of impressions and that looks different for everyone – whether it is impressing your significant other with chocolates on your anniversary or the teenager impressing his friends with a risky act or the woman holding back her true emotion when she poses naked for the camera.. It could be a whirlwind of different experiences. It takes a special person to look deep within themselves and live for something greater than this world. Live for you, live for what you love, live for whatever it is that you believe in. I live for something greater.. But I also live for myself, my family, the people I love, the people I can help and the true beauty that this world gives us outside of those man-made city limits..

I challenge you to not only measure your happiness by the ways you have in the past, but find a new meaning to your happiness. For me, my happiness comes from doing something I consider ‘good’ every day. I ultimately feel better when I have done something to make someone else feel better about themselves. I also enjoy being validated and complimented in my work, it tells me that I am doing something else that is good. Most of all, my happiness comes from the giddy feelings I get when I am doing something I enjoy like running in the park or spending the holidays with my family. I often find new meanings to my happiness.

We are not guaranteed anything in life.. Tomorrow is a blessing. I hope that you can have a brighter outlook when you wake tomorrow and think about all the positive things you have in your life.