Happiness is... a bag of potato chips. With salsa. No, I'm just kidding.
According to a recent Harris Poll, only one in three Americans are "very happy." What exactly is happiness, and what does it mean to be happy? More importantly, how must one pursue the journey of achieving happiness? When does one achieve happiness?
As a human being living in the technologically-advanced 21st century, I believe that happiness, as it always has been, is a choice. One has to wake up in the morning and train himself or herself to enjoy the hours of the upcoming day and to walk with a smile that radiates inner beauty. Happiness is a process, and sometimes it can be a life-long one. However, it's not happiness itself, but the road to happiness and the satisfaction of allowing yourself to pursue the things you love that brings out the 32 white gems.
This brings me to my next point -- where does happiness stem from? The answer is you. Living in a technologically dominated era is a beautiful experience, but it can be challenging nonetheless. In general, we spend a significant amount of hours per day engaging with the virtual world. Don't get me wrong -- there is absolutely nothing wrong with watching what you like, or conversing with those you love. As the great Sherlock Holmes once said (by the way, watch "Sherlock Holmes, The Abominable Bride "if you haven't -- it's awesome): "Controlled usage is not usually fatal and abstinence is not immortality." But perhaps that session of binge-watching Netflix can be replaced with an activity where your primary focus is just on your thoughts. Maybe a walk -- maybe writing down your thoughts and engaging in poetry. Maybe staring at the sunset and gaging your own thoughts. Incorporating some "me" time into your schedule will really allow you to gage who you are as a person, from an objective sense. Understanding what you think and why you are thinking is one of the first steps to changing your thought process, and eventually changing your life habits. Objectivity is key to understanding what makes us happy, and this can be a life-long process. When you are able to look at yourself the same way you look at others, you can mold yourself into the individual that you've always wanted to be, and not what the world around you wants you to become.
Once you are able to understand what makes you click, go out and pursue those things. It's one thing to gage yourself, but it takes a special type of bravery to act upon the results. As individuals in the 21st century, there are a lot of "models of happiness" that we are constantly shown through technological means, whether they be advertisements, or movies, or TV shows. If what makes you click is genuinely in line with these outlets, go for it. The point is to try and figure out what makes you genuinely happy and to sincerely pursue those gems of happiness.
Keep in mind that there will always be moments of regression. It's simple -- if you haven't developed a lifestyle to the extent where it becomes second-nature, it will be tough to keep up. However, it is always important to keep in mind that this is the beauty of the process. Sometimes, it's not about what you're striving for that brings you happiness, but the act of striving for happiness itself. Don't envy others and never compare yourself to others in a demeaning light. We are all beautiful people, molded and crafted with our own sets of strengths and weaknesses. As stated in "What the Best College Students Do," by Ken Bain, it's great to be competitive, but only with yourself. Be better than who you were the day before. This will help you develop a connection with yourself that will be unbreakable, and it will help you achieve goals that you previously felt were unattainable.
So what exactly is happiness? I don't know, but that is the beauty of it. The journey of achieving happiness is what allows us to become happy. Happiness might be different for you than what it may be for someone else. Yet, although happiness cannot be placed in a box, it is what allows us to break out of our own boxes, giving us an objective sense of who we are as individuals and who we are as a community. So wake up every morning and promise yourself that you will strive to achieve happiness. As Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, had stated, "The best conquest is the conquest of self." Strive to achieve happiness and understand what happiness means -- for you.
