A thought about happiness (old drafts #2)

Hey there! Happy new year! Still can't believe it's 2019 already. I'm having my summer break now and I have been pretty occupied, just thought I'd take some time out and edit this old draft I have in my posts and share it. As cliché as it sounds, I am currently sitting in starbucks and editing this haha. Hope this post gives you another perspective about happiness. Here it goes ...

It's been a while since I last read something that actually gets me thinking. And by "been a while", I actually meant a long long time ago ahahaha. Life has been so busy for me, so much problems, so much to work on, just too many things. When it gets busy, I often question myself 'Why am I doing what I’m doing? What’s the goal? Where am I heading to?'. I start to feel a bit out of balance and lost. I felt empty. 

Going through some stuff recently had me dwelling on negative emotions. But, I always remind myself that I don't have the time to indulge in it. To get my mind off things, the best strategy on the short run ... is to distract yourself. I've been keeping myself busy with actual work I have to do and also picked up a few books to keep my mind company.

Recently, this book I've been reading really sets me up to think. Ever heard of the phrase 'Happiness is a choice'? I was never really a 'happy' person to begin with. Well, I laugh a lot and most of the time it may seem like I'm having a great time & all, but I've always felt like the happiness I have is very temporary. It doesn't last, especially when I thought I had solved a problem but another came with it. I guess you can say I don't really know how does being actually happy feels like? What is the definition of happiness? Or maybe there is no 'actual being happy? Whatever it is, I felt like happiness never really lasts & hence why I'm always out looking for it.

In the book, it introduces an idea of happiness that I've never really thought of. It said that happiness is found when you are solving your problems and not when you have no problems. It taught me that life itself is a never ending equation that has no final solution. Life is made up of a set of problems, and that when those problems end, it basically meant that your life itself has ended. If you think that you can only find happiness when you have solve all your problems ... then you may never find it. Life is just like a ladder, every climb is hard, but each climb will teach you something and learning how to overcome each step of the ladder is the source of happiness.

  "Happiness is not when you reach the top of the ladder, but the climb itself."

The phrase "Happiness is a choice" actually makes more sense with the idea. If you think about it, every step forward is a decision made. It is a learning process and this decision is very much by choice. You have to learn to find happiness in the process and hence it is by choice you will find it. I don't want to go too much into this, but I hope you do get the idea I am sharing. 

And to many of you who had already gotten this idea way before I did, I hope you will be reminded that life is a string of problems, big or small, and you are not the only one who is going through them. 

May we always find content in each step we take in this life ladder, and may each step brings us joy that we thought we would never feel or don't deserve. 

Love, Giselle

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