To understand your own happiness, you must hit rock bottom. This is why I think that your own personal definition of happiness is so dynamic. Happiness comes and goes at its highs and its lows. More often than not, I tend to confuse contentedness with happiness, but after hitting rock bottom I’ve begun to understand how big of a mistake that really was. Striving for a greater life than what you currently have is a goal worth striving for.

Happiness cannot be explained in words because it is something that is felt and experienced. Everyone’s experiences are special. Happiness is an emotion. What is so hard for most people to understand is the fact that happiness doesn’t result from something that we gain or witness, but from a personal recognition and appreciation for what we are and what we have. Happiness, in my personal opinion, is just that; it's acceptance and love. Happiness is something we all tend to strive for, when, in reality, it is something we should be blessed with in the first place. Happiness is vast and fluid and multifaceted.

Throughout the past year, I have experienced what I consider the best times of my life and also what I consider the worst times. As any college student would agree, these years are the most fun and most stressful times of your life. I have had more first-time experiences within the last two years than I have had my entire life, and these experiences weren’t all positive ones. I have hit my personal rock bottom more than once, and, like I said, each time I hit lower and lower. In order to understand my own personal happiness, I have learned that it is unstable and constantly developing. I started off the new year at my lowest of lows, which in my situation wasn’t really all that bad in the first place. I realized that my life could be so much worse than it really is, and that’s why I feel as though I am still striving to reach happiness, even at my lowest. Within a day, your life can change, and it is so critical to keep that thought at a conscience level. Never be content with ‘rock bottom,’ never be content with ‘alright’ and, most importantly, find happiness in any situation you are in. Getting up after you’ve hit the ground will make you stronger, and constantly striving for a better life, in my opinion, will bring you everlasting bliss.

It’s unfortunate that it took me hitting rock bottom to understand how fortunate and happy I really am. It’s unfortunate that I have ever admitted to being unhappy, simply because I've pictured happiness entirely wrong. You don’t have to have everything you desire to be happy. You don’t need anything you desire to obtain happiness. Happiness is something that you strive toward for your own personal fulfillment; it’s not difficult to find it in even the most barren places of life. My personal definition of happiness is just that. Be thankful for what you have, and understand that you are blessed—that is happiness.