Most people know the struggle with finding happiness. Whether you suffer from mental health complications like depression, or you've just got a bout of the blues, or you feel like something is missing from your life, you might worry about finding happiness. There have been movies, books, songs, and so many conversations about finding happiness. I took a philosophy course on it once, and even then I couldn't understand how to magically conjure up that feeling of satisfaction that everyone knows about, but so few people know how to achieve.
Then it hit me. Happiness is totally within reach for most of us, and we take it for granted.
It starts on a small scale: I am alive. The simple fact that our heartbeats exist merits some appreciation, don't you think? I am healthy. So many people don't have that blessed reality that I do. I have access to clean water, to healthcare, to so many resources. I am blessed with a supportive family and a caring, healthy relationship with my significant other.
These basic things are definitely reasons to be happy. Even if we have some stressful burdens in our lives, or we are struggling with some kind of suffering, there are still reasons to be happy. Sometimes when I go through bouts of bad depression, it's a beautiful sunset that can give me just that one moment of happiness, a sort of realization that the world can still be beautiful. Happiness doesn't have to be a constant, steady state in order for it to exist; those simple moments can sometimes be what keeps us going. Things like looking at a newborn baby or a dog, smelling the lilacs in bloom, or hearing your favorite song on the radio. For me, it's the smell of brewing coffee in the morning, or the perfect breezy fall day.
Sometimes it's other people. In the midst of finals week and homesickness and overall stresses of school, I gave a few dollars to a man playing music downtown. That man and his music made me smile so much, and I even got to pet his little puppy-sitting with him. Through our conversation, our laughs, and our mutual respect from the beginning, I was left with enough happiness to keep me going through the week. In interacting and being kind to one another, how can you not feel positive?
Happiness isn't some Rubik's cube for us to solve, it is something you create. In my own personal struggles, I definitely know that it can be hard. After last summer, I was having panic attacks every other day and happiness felt beyond reach. But by learning to see the good, and to give myself the responsibility of speaking kindly of others and to myself, I've learned that it really is a mindset.
Give yourself some kindness, and treat yourself and others well. Happiness may seem out of reach, but manifest it in the way you see everyday beauties. That gorgeous sunset or the smiling stranger on the sidewalk is there for a reason.
