"The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage."
-Thucydides
When I read this phrase that 
Happiness is not outside of us, happiness does not depend on others, it is not found in one thing or another person. Happiness does not depend on another person being by our side, a partner, but that happiness comes from within us.
When we feel full, happy in solitude is when we can share that happiness with another. If we make it depend on another person, without them we would be nothing, we would die of sadness.
We are complete by ourselves, and we decide to share that completeness with another.
But how do we achieve this inner happiness?
If we are not free, we will not be happy. Freedom in every sense.
There are many forms of slavery, physical, mental, emotional. When our life is conditioned by beliefs, mental programs that are not even ours, but of our ancestors, that conditions us. We are not free.
To be free requires a very strong and deep decision, to be free requires courage.
It takes the decision to know, to know our inner self, our dark side, to go deep inside and rise again like the phoenix.
The courage to investigate our past, our blocks, which many times can be traumatic and others we do not even know.
To make an internal journey, and into the past, to know everything, but everything. That requires great courage, a strength of will beyond what is foreseen.
We may not know what we are going to find, many times it is to go blindly and discover truths, hard truths. A lot of courage is necessary.
When we discover the truth, our inner self, the darkest corners of our history, of our ancestors, of society, of conditioning, is when we get out of the matrix and we are free.
Freedom is knowing everything and from there designing our own life.
No matter how long it takes us to discover ourselves, the important thing is to do it to be free and thus achieve happiness.
If we don't do it, we move forward blindly, aimlessly, lost.... How many times have I been lost... many times, but not anymore.
I know my truth, after more than 10 years learning and knowing myself. I know who I am, I know the truth, I am free, therefore, I design my happiness within myself and I share it with whomever I decide.
Self-knowledge, courage to face my inner self, knowing makes me free, but in order to get to that point I had to be strong and have a lot of courage to say: I want to know.
Many people say: I prefer not to know. I do, no matter how much it hurts, but it is the only way to be free. And thus move forward to a future forged by myself and with happiness in my soul. That light that will always shine with the necessary confidence to know who I am and what I can do.
Happiness is a challenge of courage, because he who is not free cannot be happy. To free ourselves from the bonds of the past, false beliefs and programming that limit our lives.
Are you free? Do you have the courage to know who you are? That will lead you to happiness.
Thank you very much Galen, for these wonderful topics that you bring us every weekend, they allow us to develop creativity, writing and express our reflections.
Best regards to all, see you next time.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.