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What does happiness mean to you?
The question throws you off balance. Suddenly, the word seems strange to you almost like you are hearing it for the very first time. Everyone talks about happiness; it makes life beautiful. You thought you knew what it meant, but now, in this moment, you find it hard to resonate with it.
You haven’t been happy in a long time. Life happened to you. It made you go through certain experiences that left you broken – too broken to be mended. A void was created in you – so deep its depth made you feel empty. Not just empty in your body but also in your soul. The sort of emptiness that made loneliness your reality. You opened your heart and arms to the people around with the hope of finding happiness in them. If only they’d love you, perhaps you’d be happy.
It started out well. You thanked the heavens for bringing them into your life. Their mere presence made everything alright. They had a striking resemblance with perfection. You let go of your fears, and fell deeply into their hands. Their warm embrace was your safe haven. But it didn’t last for too long. Just when the music was sounding better than ever, and you were dancing like it was your last dance, they left. You thought it was a joke – a very expensive joke. You waited on them to come back. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, yet, you didn’t see their shadows. You became miserable, unable to recognize your shadows….
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We find ourselves in situations like this – where we depend on other people to be happy. We wait on them to complete us – to make us feel whole. Sooner or later, we are confronted with the harsh reality when they don’t do right by us and do their own bidding regardless of how it makes us feel. Thing is, you can’t hold people accountable for how their actions affect you. At the end of the day, they have their life to live and you have yours. The only thing you are sure of, is how you choose to live your own life.
Your happiness lies in your hands. Nobody but yourself can truly make you happy.
Being happy begins with a decision – a decision to understand the true meaning of happiness and make conscious efforts to be happy. This thing called happiness isn’t so far away from us as we think. It’s often in the little things in our everyday lives. It’s in the decision to laugh at the little funny things, to give a helping hand to someone in need or simply be content with our lives.
You are responsible for your happiness.
When you depend on people to make you happy, you give them too much power than they deserve. You are enough to make yourself happy. The happiness you seek is already in you, you just need to recognize it.