You know when you plan something that you are really looking forward to, so every day until then seems like a drag? Yes, I know that I am not the only one guilty of this. Or maybe we are looking forward to something that is still in the far future, and we say to ourselves that we'll wait to be happy once we get to the thing we want. Why wait, when you can be happy right at this moment?

I completely understand that not every day is a good day and that we think tomorrow is going to be 10 times better. And you are probably wondering how on earth we could possibly make every day good and worth being happy about, right? Well, it only takes one thing. Even when you feel like everything around you is crumbling down, take a step back, breathe, and think.

We tend to ignore relatively good things that happen to us because we think that something bigger and better is worth looking forward to. I used to do this very often if not, all of the time. When you obsess your mind with the thought of "nothing" being "good" in the present moment, the life you live is not going to be filled with the joy you crave. Even though I have improved from doing this, I still catch myself slipping sometimes. Whenever I begin to think like this, I try to find at least one thing I was grateful for that day, or in general. Doing this helps me out a lot, even on a bad day.

I have heard stories of people, who are now older, who said that they too only lived for their future. The word "regret" was mentioned a lot throughout their stories and even though they arrived at whatever their goal was, they wished that they could live life again; but joyfully. Imagine arriving at a point in life where you thought you would be at your happiest but then realizing that time is too short and maybe you should have slowed down. And don't be afraid to put happiness in someone else's day. Sometimes their reaction is rewarding enough to make your day better.

We shouldn't wait for things to make us happy, we need to create happiness for ourselves. Creating your own happiness means rejoicing in your friends, family, hobbies, and reminding yourself that life is too short to wait 20 years to feel content. Being present during the good moments in life that we look forward to is just as important as being present during the difficult times. Doing this teaches us how to grow and learn from situations. Experiencing life lessons, even if we don't want to is an important part of a happy and grateful life. We don't want to waste time on ignoring the present because we are so in love with the idea of the future. Your future is a product of how you live now! Learn to love life today, not tomorrow.