Being happy is probably the most sought-after thing by almost everyone (I would think so). Other than wanting to make more money, being happy for any individual is what any person sets out after. But being happy is a choice. When someone is brought into this world, you are brought in as a blank slate. It's actually called tabula rosa, which basically means how your mind is clean and not built-in with any components or ideologies. And then as we grow up, we are brought into the realities of other individuals as the years roll by, mainly our parents. And, hopefully, if you are brought up in a great home and warm surroundings, you can envelope what the meaning of wanting to be happy is for you. But unfortunately, that’s not the case for everyone. Over-time people become sort of, numb to the means of wanting to become happy. They go through life just getting a menial job and working menial hours to menially fulfill themselves just enough, so they don’t get depressed or upset about their life. Until one day it hits them that they are not where they had envisioned themselves to be and start to feel as though there is a hole they need to climb out of. And social media doesn’t help that feeling either, with its perfect pictures and beautiful one-second photo lives people post. Now I don’t think every single person out there thinks this way, because then that would just be ignorant. Some everyday people take pride in their everyday jobs and enjoy them. But I do think there are a lot of people who don’t. And there is also a percentage of people who think their everyday life is “good” or “alright” and feel just good enough in life. And of course, there is also being grateful for what you currently have because as the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. But that’s not the point I’m getting across either. What I’m getting at is, for you to be happy, it’s a choice and not every single person deserves to be happy because you only deserve what you work for. And I feel like happiness is no different. You have to put effort into it and put your mind towards the fact of putting yourself in a position that would respectively make you happy in your own life. Like anything else, the effort has to be poured into it. When I was younger, I believed that anyone just deserves to be happy because of what I was told in school and of course at home and elsewhere. But getting older I realized that it’s not that simple. Being happy requires you to hold yourself to a higher standard so that you can put yourself in a position to be happy. Holding yourself accountable when needed and having structure and discipline in anything you do so you feel the satisfaction of completion. Whether it's being financially sound to being stressed from not having money or wanting to live out in the countryside just off of home-grown crops to feed yourself and your family. Whatever it is, you do need to put work towards it. You can’t just expect a life of happiness to be given to you. You have to create it and cultivate it and protect it. Some people might be thinking that, well if I had the money so-and-so had or if I had the relationship that so-and-so had at work, I would be happy. Well, do you know that for sure? You would never as you aren’t living that person’s life. The ideal thing to do is to look at what you currently have around you and be grateful that you have it in your life. There is always something to be grateful for even if you are in what you believe to be a dire situation. If you can do that it already starts to lift your spirits. But also, if you want what so-and-so has, then make moves to attain it. If you have had a taste of what they have and realized, it makes you happy then do something to obtain it. Secondly, start looking at how you can attain the things you want. What are the necessary steps you need to take for them to happen? Who do you think you need to come in contact with for things to start taking a positive shift for you? And thirdly, don’t stop growing. I have found that growth, as an individual, causes consistent good emotions, with a prominent one being happiness. When you can see the fruits of your labor coming to fruition it brings out the joy in you from a spot you might have not realized before. And it also allows you to be more grateful for who you are and also what you are becoming. So being happy means different things for different people. There are small occurrences that can cause happiness but also things you have been putting work into for a long time that cause you to be happy for the time you have put into them. So, you can be a happy individual, if you deserve it. Being happy is a choice and one that requires many repetitive choices over and over to help maintain it through the course of your life. The real question is though, how or where you start. Well, that’s up to you as life is a process that only you will know the answer to as it's your life. No one is going to come and make it happy for you. You can make a lot of money, build a successful business, start a beautiful family, build a wonderful relationship with someone, travel the world and see its wonderful sights and more of whatever you think would float your boat. But it all starts with you. There are going to be many little incremental things in a person's life that can also make a person happy as everyone’s life is different but it has to come from you. You have to be deserving to be happy. And it all starts with a choice.
