It is a new week and the last day in October, the year is running to an end and I am grateful to the almighty God for the grace he has bestowed upon us to be among the living today. I would love to wish everyone a happy new week and I pray that we continue to flourish in all our endeavors.
Happiness is a feeling every human is blessed with, it comes in a freeform and we have the power as individuals to mould it into what we want. The ability to reshape it is what makes the difference between things that makes every individual happy.
The situation of things in the world today has made happiness a rare thing among people, the topic "happiness" is something many people wouldn't like to talk about. I do not blame them because even though happiness is free, you won't expect a hungry man to say he is happy with an empty stomach.
Happiness is indeed free because it can't be bought, it is in us but we need to allow it to flourish. We all have different definitions for happiness and I define mine as a state of mind you put yourself when you feel things are falling in place for you.
Happiness might be a simple word but it is huge, there are a lot of things above and beneath it, that sum up to birth that feeling.
A lot of us have defined happiness wrongly and it has put us in a complicated position in life. People believe in wealth and material things to be the elements that trigger happiness but it isn't completely so. I wouldn't say they aren't part of the things that would make everyone happy but they aren't the only things we need to be happy.
I use to think wealth was everything when I was younger, I grew up learning about wealthy people committing suicide and I asked myself, what else do they want?
They have luxury cars, houses, designer wear, and accessories but these things weren't enough because they aren't the basic reason for happiness.
Earlier this year, I was at a party. The environment was very uncomfortable to the extent that I couldn't eat there.
The people in the neighborhood weren't bothered, the happiness on their faces while the party was on got me curious. If I don't feel comfortable coming there once, how do they cope with living there every day? I got to know that the government once gave them houses in another part of Lagos but they turned it down.
These people do not have anything but they are happy, do you know why?
Wealth or material things aren't the basic reason for happiness, the things beneath and beyond happiness matter most.
Contentment
The people I mentioned earlier are contented with what they have and that's one of the biggest elements that happiness.
A contented man will always be happy because they appreciate how far they have come in life. Being contented with what you have doesn't mean that you don't have dreams or you aren't pursuing to be great, it means you appreciate every position you find yourself in on your journey to your destination.
Being content is one of the things that has helped me nurture that feeling of happiness in me. I don't covet, I don't put pressure on myself, I don't chase after irrelevant things, I am completely off the trend and I am happy.
Myself/family/friends well being
The well-being of myself, my family, and my friends is another thing that makes me happy. I love to see everyone happy, I guess happiness is contagious that's why seeing them happy makes me happy as well.
I believe life is good when we are all doing well not in terms of riding expensive cars. Seeing people doing okay with the basic needs of life makes me happy. As long as we are alive, we will be able to achieve more than just the basic needs of life.
There is so much joy in seeing others happy or playing a part in the things that make them happy.
Doing away with negativity or negative feelings.
Harboring negative feelings or thoughts deprives me of happiness so I do away with negativity. I try to be as positive as possible even in a tight situation.
You can't be nursing hate in your heart and expect happiness to be in that same place, you just have to let go of every sort of negative thought or feeling.
If you have heard Burna Boy's song titled "common person", you will understand my opinion about happiness.
Our happiness belongs to us and we must cherish it. No one has a perfect life and if you are seeing people being happy despite going through a lot, it means they have great hope of overcoming the challenges.
We don't need to be the richest, most influential, or most famous person in the world before we can be happy. The weird thing about being happy is that, if you can't nurture happiness when you are at the lowest point in life, it might be difficult to nurture it when you are at your peak in life.
If you choose not to be happy while struggling, there are higher chances of not being able to become happy even when your dreams come true.
Being happy is a powerful feeling, it has a great impact on our health physically and mentally. It is important that choose happiness always, there will be bad days but we can always bounce back quickly.
