True Happiness

What is true happiness?

Dear readership,
This question seems to be a hard one. For myself, I found a simple answer. Happiness is defined by you personally.
For me, when I feel my soul smiling, no, grinning widely, that’s when I feel happy. In moments when I am aware of my problems but am able to realize that they don’t define my life, I feel happy.
I like to think of my life as a collection of memories and lessons. Happy memories. Memories I made with friends, alone, with my family, with my dog, with a stranger, with my guitar, with my journal, with an ocean, with the moon.

Moments in which my heart feels at ease. When my soul feels inner peace. That’s when I am happy.

Take a moment to think. When are you truly happy? What makes your heart smile, makes you laugh uncontrollably, makes you feel as if you were dancing on clouds or being swirled across a dancing hall? What nourishes your happiness?

I invite you to take pen and paper and write down your answers. Whatever comes up for you spontaneously is right. If you feel like it, draw or decorate your paper in any way that delights you. When you are pleased by the outcome, place it somewhere you can see it every day.
Take a moment to honor the piece of art you just created and make a promise. Every day you will gift yourself a moment in which you will perform at least one of those actions. Make yourself happier.

It comes in very different forms too. Sometimes, feeling at ease is all I long for. On other days I smile watching two butterflies dance with each other. It is no secret that I can find happiness in the very simple things of life. Watching a smile being exchanged between two strangers, listening to a splashing fountain, browsing through an old photo album. Scenes that won’t be noticed by the ignorant eye energize me.

To create sustainable happiness, I’ve chosen my path in life. Having tried to do otherwise, I am now a full-time traveler. While exploring the richness of a new culture, rewarding my tongue with the taste of an unknown dish or meeting the people I was supposed to meet, I feel whole. My life is about me, and I do everything in my power to sail my own ship. 

The secret to true happiness is cherishing it when it comes along.

To feel it just as deeply as the other emotions. They all form part of this great ocean called my life and I believe, that one day, when I am stranded on a long-forgotten island, I will find my soul in a rocking chair smiling.