This week I’d like to discuss happiness.

Most times people associate their happiness with their occupations or the amount of money they possess.

Other times people associate their happiness with people, places, & things.

I’m not here to tell anyone what makes them happy but I will say solely associating your happiness on any of the above is a recipe for disaster.

Placing your happiness in others or material items & things will eventually leave you feeling empty when they’re no longer there in the capacity you need or like for them to be.

It’s important to cultivate happiness from within so that when you’re around others that joyous feeling can vibrate in authenticity.

You have to dig deep, past the self-sabotage, past the negative self-talk, & get acquainted with your solitude to the point you enjoy yourself, by yourself.

Getting familiar with yourself & your needs creates space to build a better relationship with self but also within your other relationships.

Doing this builds trust & when you trust yourself, you make sound decisions that’ll benefit you rather than harm you.

This isn’t to confuse happiness with perfectionism, however the more you know yourself the better friend, family member, & partner you can be to others if you choose.

We’re taught to put our happiness in others & to be materialistic because it’s what drives businesses.

Without all of the things, can you truly be happy?

If today’s technology didn’t exist, would you be happy living a simple life?

Something I like to practice is being in gratitude of the simple pleasures of life – such as waking up, the ability to cook a meal I love, or being able to share life with those I love.

It’s the simple joys that really make life worth living.

Before ending I’d like to share how I’ve dealt with my fair share of people telling me what I needed to do in order to achieve happiness & to be successful.

For a while now, people have been telling me I need to find a “regular job”.

They say I need to find a nice company to work for so that I can have benefits & a 401K because how else can I survive?!

I get it… this is a mindset we’re taught to have but since abandoning those ideologies when people ask what I’m doing I simply tell them all the things that please me.

They like to follow up with, well what are your goals?

Then I reply, my pleasures.

Then they’re usually like no seriously, what are you working on?!

Then I respond back saying, living my absolute best life.

Then they’ll question what I’m looking to accomplish & I’ll reply by saying living happily ever after.

They’ll say but what about your legacy?

What kind of mark do you want to leave behind?

Then I’ll say my legacy will be a joyous one, my mark will reflect my happiness in everyone I’ve come across in this life.

It’s hard for people to wrap their minds around such a way of living because we’re taught everything but how to actually cultivate happiness from within.

There’s much value in happiness, for this is what life is truly made of.

⁃ MML