Day Nine: Happiness

May 22, 2022

Happiness is subjective. Like any other intangible thing on earth such as love, happiness comes in different definitions depending on who the person you are asking. For some people, achieving their dreams and acquiring the material things that they want is the meaning of happiness. Others also find happiness in spending time with family, pursuing a passion or going on a vacation. We vary in our definition of happiness. Regardless, we work and we aspire to work on our happiness.

For me, happiness is an inside job. We get to decide when to be happy. We have to decide to be happy at the moment. We needn't wait for something to happen and then decide to be happy. Cause if we depend on our happiness on something, then life would be miserable. We need to quit being addicted to our destination. Destination addiction is a phenomenon wherein you would condition yourself to hold your happy smiles until you get to that specific destination in life. Some people I know would say that they will only be happy when they would finally able to travel. Some people would say that until they get that job, they won't be happy.

If happiness works that way, some people would live a lonely life waiting for their dreams to happen. I would say that it is not worth it to wait for your dreams to happen until we became happy because we can be happy while working for our dreams.

I don't know if I'm making sense here. All I'm trying to say is for you to stop waiting for something to happen and then decide to be happy. It is something that depends on our decisions.

Anyway, here are some everyday scenarios that spark happiness in me.

Food makes us all happy. It lightens our mood. Maybe it is included in all of our lists of things that spark happiness in us. Coming home from a long day at work is something I look forward to. Being with family and friends is also a game-changer.

Speaking of friends, my childhood friend celebrates her twenty-fourth birthday today. Time flies fast. We are almost in our mid-twenties and we can't go on a vacation on short notice unlike before. We need to make arrangements months or weeks before as we are all now busy in life. Our other friend is now working in a hotel at Siargao so we can't be complete on our other friend's birthday. The future is indeed surprising. We have plans before building a house so we can all stay there only to find out that we can't even see each other on weekends or special occasions.

The one who is all smiles is in Siargao now. The one with glasses on is in our hometown still managing her parent's business. The one with cute eyes is the birthday girl who is busy taking care of her boyfriend who got into an accident. The one who is covering her mouth has her own family and resides somewhere in Manila. The one who has her tongue out is in Cebu and has her own family too.

This was taken in the year 2019. We were still fresh from college graduation.

That's about it, friends! Tell me about your happiness too.