By Mary O'Connell
Happiness is arguably the most hiught after conceptual phenomenon in life, ever! The quest to find happiness ignites passion and sparks curiosity, it provides a sense of security, it offers a sanctuary for hope while testing and nurturing our faith, and it acts as both a conscious and subconscious reverie where ones life purpose can be revealed, explored, and pursued. When looking at this logically, what I have just described would serve as the journey, and happiness as the destination, but I do not consider this to be true. You see, happiness is in the eye of the beholder, and it is often times not rational, and rarely logical or sane, creating a somewhat paradoxical situation.
Happiness is a cool breeze against your face on a hot summer day, it is looking at someone you love and smiling for no reason, it is learning to embrace your weirdness and to laugh at yourself. It is the feeling you get when something you have said or done consequently brings joy to another person. It is watching your children run around carefree, and watching them sleep peacefully. It is getting lost in a good book and living 10 different lives in only 2 hours. It is creating something from your heart and enjoying it upon its completion. It's sharing special moments with those you care about; it's doing what you love; it's seeing others happy.
Now you may be thinking that some or all of these things aren't true for you, and to that I simply say, this is my point exactly. Happiness is unique to each one of us, it's a very personal interpretation and reaction to an event or a circumstance, or even to a memory. It's 100% about you, and so it begins with you. Happiness can be found everywhere, in everything, and in everyone, it just comes down to your perspective and which color lenses you choose to view life through. Now when looking at it in this way, it is safe to conclude that happiness serves as both the journey and the destination, and everything in between.
All too often, we put the fate of our happiness into the hands of other people, then wonder why it continues to elude us. We are seeking validation and permission from others to allow us to feel happy, or we act as though happiness is not possible without their blessing or approval.
In closing, I ask you to contemplate the following:
Would you put the fate of your health into the hands of another person? Would you hand over all control of your finances to another? And just hope for for a favorable outcome?
My guess would be you rather quickly answered “no” to each of these, and if you are someone who considers the discovery of happiness to be one of your main goals in life, I have to ask why, then, would you put another person in control of your happiness? Why would you award another person such power over you and your goals? Love yourself, love others, look within, and find the happiness in yourself that you have been looking for everywhere else.
