I feel like people get lost when they think of happiness as a destination. We always think that someday we will be happy when we get that car, or that job, or that person in our lives who will fix everything. But happiness is a mood, and happiness is a condition. Not a destination. It's like being tired or hungry, it's not permanent. Like most things it comes and goes, and that's okay. And if more people would think that way they'd find happiness more often. When people think happiness is a destination, they tend to miss the little moments of happiness in each day.

Everything is so temporary -- pain, suffering, sadness, and happiness. If you spend so much time looking at your destination, you are going to miss your journey. Happiness comes in many forms: in the company of good friends and good people, in the feeling you get when your dreams come true, or when you make someone else's dreams come true. When your favorite song comes on the radio, or when you make your best friend laugh until they can't breathe. It is these moments that people so often take for granted. It's okay to allow yourself to be happy, because you never know how great that happiness may be. You know what? Tragedies and sadness? They happen, but what are you going to do? Give up? Quit? No. You're going to pick yourself up and keep going, because those moments of happiness, they are all around you, you just have to look for them. Life is going to kick you around sometimes, it'll scare you and beat you up. But one day you're going to see that you are not just a survivor, you are a fighter and you are tougher than anything life throws your way. Find strength in yourself and your moments of happiness, and allow yourself to feel them.

So many people live their lives searching for happiness and just wanting to be happy, all you have to do is look around you. The hug you get when you are reunited with a friend, when someone tells you they love you, making someone who is sad smile. These moments happen every single day, stop overlooking them. You are not going to be happy every second of every day, not now, not ever. But that doesn't mean you're going to be miserable either. Happiness is a condition. When you're hungry, you eat something. When you are tired, you sleep. So, when you are unhappy, find things that make you happy, appreciate the little things in life. All you hear people talk about is the destination in life, but if you only focus on the destination then you ignore the beauty of the journey.

People so often think that in order to be happy everything has to be perfect. Well I hate to break it to you, but nothing is ever going to be perfect. You are going to have pain and heartache and you are going to be angry. You will have nights where you scream and cry on the bathroom floor and days you cannot muster up the strength to pull yourself out of bed. But in between those days you will also have days where you fall in love with being alive. You will have days where you are surrounded by beautiful people and you will laugh until you cry and smile until your cheeks hurt. Your journey is what shapes you, no matter how chaotic and flawed it may be. Stop waiting for everything to be perfect and simply enjoy the small moments of happiness you experience every day.

Whatever you are feeling, feel it. Whether it is anger, sadness bitterness, or happiness and joy. It is all temporary, and no matter what it can't last forever. The sun will rise and the sun will set and you have to take each day as it comes. But when you are feel as though you are all alone in the dark, have the strength to get up and turn the light back on. And when you have days where you fall in love with being alive, remember how you felt when you were in the dark, and appreciate it that much more. Live your life knowing that nothing lasts forever. Seize your journey, whatever it may be. And in the end you'll realize the journey is the destination.