This is a very touching piece on what happiness is for this person. We want to thank the author of this piece especially because their piece really moved us and touched us from within. Thank you.
As I see it, happiness is the feeling of fullness. Feeling happy to me represents the most wholesome state that someone can experience. It can be triggered by absolutely anything.
Happiness could be a song played in a moment where all you really needed was listening to those lyrics and that melody as they evoked a feeling of warmth and peace. I don’t know if you know the song Narcotic by Liquido. In case you do, there you go. That’s a song that applied to the right moment can evoke pure joy and hope to me.
Happiness could be dancing in a club surrounded by your favorite people, singing so loudly that you can barely hear the actual song and feeling absolutely invincible. Invincible is the keyword here. If I were to gather all the moments where I felt the happiest, I could say that happiness is that feeling where you feel so powerful that even the more intimidating challenges feel easily achievable and the present moment is so beautiful that you forget about who you were and ignore who you will be. All that matters is here and now. The rest is another story.
Happiness is my favorite feeling, without any doubt whatsoever. However, it is important to acknowledge that it comes with a lot of pain as well. As a matter of fact, I believe it can only be experienced after having gone through deep sadness as well. Like everything else in life, the positive things appear only when the negative ones have been overcome. If you think about it, if the only feeling you were to experience was happiness, that magic state would become meaningless and you would take it for granted. However, its beauty also stems from the fact that we know it will not last forever. Therefore, we try to make the most out of it when we happen to cross it in our path.
But probably the biggest challenge that this feeling brings along is the fact that happiness comes from inside. I know it can be triggered by external factors, such as friends, family, music and food. However, unless you feel at ease with yourself, it is impossible to experience this feeling at its fullest. You could be surrounded by the most amazing people, and have the most perfect and exciting life ever, but if you are not okay with who you are, how can you feel truly happy? Happiness is the most intimate feeling. It takes place within you and you. Nobody else. I speak from experience as I perfectly know what that entails. Since a few years now, I started to make decisions according to the ones that I knew would have made ‚future me‚ the happiest. Therefore, I must say, I am proud of where I am at with my life. Plus, I am surrounded by so many beautiful people who support me on a daily basis even when I deserve it the least, that I really cannot find anything to complain about. And yet, the moments where I feel overwhelmed and frustrated outweigh the happy moments by far. This is a very frustrating situation as it is an endless cycle where I hate myself for not feeling appreciative enough for what I have, but at the same time I am really not able to do so. And this feeling of mine is mainly triggered by my constant not liking the way I look. Therefore, I’m stuck.
So how can you find internal peace? You may ask.
Good question. I would love to have the answer as well. Because I know what being truly happy feels like. Therefore, I face constant FOMO for missing out on that feeling that would perfectly be achievable given my situation. Though, I may have a point to start with. A good start would probably be realising that you are you. No matter what shape or color you are. What matters is what you bring to the world. People are given Oscars and Nobel Prizes not for the way they look, but for what they give to the world. It’s okay if you’re not at your best at times. If your skin does not look perfect. If you gained a bit of weight after having indulged during summer. Having flaws is so normal and with time flaws go away. You just have to trust the process. You are always okay. I am saying this because I know I’m not alone. I face probably the most common problem that young adults can have in the 21st century. And I’m incredibly mad about it. It simply is not fair. We constantly live with tools that allow us to compare ourselves to others and previous versions of ourselves without realising that out there, nobody cares.
We are our worst enemies. We are scared of ourselves. We simply cannot admit it. And I truly believe that only once we become our own best friends, we can truly find happiness.