Last summer, around the Fourth of July, while I was driving home from the beach, I had my windows down, my favorite song blasting and I saw a firework go off in the sky. It was perfect. And in that moment, I realized something: I was happy. And it was shocking to me, because I hadn’t felt happy in quite a long time. I wouldn’t say I was unhappy, but I was just kind of existing. And all of a sudden, an overwhelming feeling came over me, and I knew that in that moment, I was right where I wanted to be. I didn’t need anything else, and I didn’t need to search for anything anymore, because everything I wanted was right in front of me.

That was the moment it hit me. Happiness is not a permanent state, or something we should attain to be. Happiness is a fleeting moment. And we have to relish in those moments and cherish them. Because that’s all we’re ever going to get and we don’t know when it will happen again. I don’t think anyone will ever be happy every moment of his or her lives, and if they are, I envy them. Happiness is something that passes by and touches you just when you need it the most and reminds you that everything will be okay.

So many people are trapped in today’s society’s idea that we all need to be happy all of the time, and if we aren’t then something is wrong with us. But that is just foolishly unrealistic. Lives are not perfect, and bad things happen to good people every day. That’s just the hard truth. For too long, I disregarded everything in front of me that I shouldn’t have because I was so focused on searching for happiness or stuck thinking that because I wasn’t in a permanent state of happiness, then I wasn’t actually happy.

If we continue to live life with the mentality of ‘finding happiness’ or ‘one day I’ll be happy’ then we never will be. People spend their whole lives living in the mindset that one day they will be happy and that’s what they spend their whole lives hoping for. But they are missing the happiness that is all around them. They are never going to get a permanent life of happiness, but they will get moments of it, if they stop looking at the future and take a minute to look at what is right in front of them.

If we are constantly searching for happiness then we will never find it. I was that person. I told myself that it was okay that I wasn’t happy right now, because one day I would be. Because of that mindset, I missed out on so many moments that were right in front of me. But now, I see happiness all around me. Whether it be in a puppy, or a hug from a friend when you are having a bad day, or reading a really good book. Those are all little moments of happiness, and when you start seeing them all around you, it turns into more and more happiness. Happiness is a series of choices you have to make. You have to decide to let yourself feel happy with the little things, and then those little things will turn into bigger things. When you wake up in the morning, you have to tell yourself that you are going to let the good things outweigh the bad things and allow them to make you happy. You can’t just sit there any expect to be happy, because it won’t happen.

Happiness falls right into your lap in the moments you least expect it. And when that happens you need to soak it up. Let yourself be happy, don’t taint it with questions and past thoughts. Let yourself be happy in that very moment and don’t worry about how long it will last. Because it will stay with you as long as you let it.