Would you like to know the secret to a life filled with happiness? It's simple: do what makes you happy. No, that doesn’t mean just do whatever you want all the time--that’s not going to make you happy in the long run (and it would probably lead you to being arrested).
The key to happiness is living for yourself. Now that may sound really selfish, but hear me out. I’m not telling you to only do things that directly benefit you, and I’m not saying that you shouldn’t care about and help others. To me, living for yourself means doing what you want to do and having a purpose behind your actions. It means doing something because you know that it’s the right decision for you.
If you want to drop out of college to travel the world, make it happen. If you want to change your major to theater arts, go for it. The bottom line is, if it will make you happy, do it.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of simply doing what other people want. Sometimes it can be nearly impossible to make the distinction between what you are supposed to want and what you actually want. But you would hate to disappoint your family, friends or significant other, so you try your hardest to live by their definition of a happy, successful life. They think they know what’s best for you, and maybe they do.
But then again, maybe they don’t.
Don’t let opportunity pass you by just because it’s not what someone else may want for you. It’s your life, and you’re the one who has to live with it.
Sometimes, when you do what you want to do, magic happens. It turns out to be the best decision you could have made, and everything starts to fall into place. The people you were so scared of hurting or disappointing end up happy instead, because they realize that you were doing the right thing for you. When you make yourself happy, things just have a way of working themselves out.
Everyone may think they know how you should live your life, but the only opinion that truly matters is yours. Try as they might, no one can live your life for you. So do what makes you happy, and live the life YOU want to live. There’s nothing selfish about that at all.
