In one of my classes today, my professor posed the question: Can any of you really think of a time that you felt purely happy? She continued to say that we usually feel complete happiness when we get our way or accomplish some huge personal obstacle. Of course, I had to raise my hand and share my opinion on the subject. I said something along the lines of "there is so much pressure put on us to achieve out-of-this-world, lofty, sometimes unattainable goals that it's almost impossible for us to feel happy unless we are the one in a million that discovers the cure to cancer or solves a controversial business/national/world problem. We're taught that if we're wrong, do something incorrectly, or, to put it plainly, fail, then we can't be happy. It's just a social norm and cultural idea that we learn at a young age."
In the class after that one, my professor asked everyone to write down a conflict or problem that we were facing in each of our lives. We needed to write down a problem so that we could evaluate, work through, and uncover the causes of the problem. I promise, I did try, but I could not come up with a problem. I ended up choosing a small, trivial issue that I have just come to accept as part of life. I know that I am a compromiser and an accommodating person when it comes to conflict. I want other people to be happy and prefer to accept someone else's idea than fight for my own in order to keep the peace. Yes, if it is an important issue or will have serious consequences for me or someone else, I'll fight for what is right, but otherwise, I'm a people pleaser.
So back to the first question, Can any of you really think of a time that you felt purely happy? Yes, I can. In fact, I have many instances every day where I feel completely happy and content. Just today I felt completely happy when I turned in my OL application, talked to my dear friend for awhile, leisurely went grocery shopping, and took some photos. It's not a matter of if you ever feel happy, but whether or not you appreciate that moments throughout your days that make you smile. Everything in your life doesn't have to be perfect for you to be happy. It's the little things in life that make the difference and learning to embrace and celebrate those have made all the difference in my life. It's amazing how striving to find the positive in every situation can make you so happy that your enthusiasm for life becomes contagious. Who doesn't want to be the joyous person that people want to be around constantly?
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