Happiness

rambling from my own point of view

Life is filled with ups and downs and for most people, we go through difficult experiences to obtain one thing, happiness. Happiness is like a drug where people feel the need to always be on. It’s one of those feelings that not many people can describe other than having a smile on your face.

My mom always explained the life cycle as, “you go to college, find a good job, and start a family”. Truthfully speaking, that doesn’t really make me happy at all. I know it’s something people don’t think about everyday, but this is our one shot, our only opportunity to make an impact in any sort of way.

I watch a lot of my friends around me to see what everyone is up to and honestly it’s a bunch of the same bullshit (no offense to anyone). My Instagram feed is filled with club pictures, raves, and Vegas hotel shots with some cliche view of the strip in the background. Rapper T.I. once said, “’’Some of y’all are not where you want to be in life, yet you party every weekend. What exactly is you celebrating?’’ . He may not be my parent or prominent role model, but what are we celebrating? I’m not really a big party guy, but is getting drunk every weekend listening to the same music supposed to make you happy? Sounds awfully depressing to me, maybe I’m just too boring.

I’ll admit though, I’m not the most happy guy around. I’ve been through a lot in my life and I’ve worked pretty hard to get where I am today. Two weekends ago, I was with a friend at a bar for his 21st birthday. We were sitting in the back and everyone asked us why we weren’t smiling or having fun. He had heard this far too many times that night and said, “Why the fuck am I supposed to smile? Is it because we’re all drinking and getting drunk? Does that actually make you happy? Just because I’m not smiling doesn’t mean I’m not happy!” My face froze for a second, it was like he verbally slapped that person in the face.

So what makes me happy? The answer is simply progression. Kanye West once said, “If you have the opportunity to play this game of life you need to appreciate every moment. a lot of people don’t appreciate the moment until it’s passed”. Everyday I’m trying to improve my life, the people around me, and figuring out what I can do to make a difference, even if it’s miniscule. That’s what truly makes me happy.