Happiness

I’ve found my passion in software late in life, about a year and a half ago. I’ve immersed myself in learning how to engineer and as many of related skills as I’ve gotten my hands on; I can’t get enough of it. I constantly find myself doing work outside of regular business hours whether on my own personal projects or something I’m excited about from my job. I could wake up every day and do everything I’m doing now for the rest of my life. Everyday I get to face new problems and challenges, learning new ways to solve them. There’s almost no better feeling.

I forget that not all happiness comes from your job or what new technology you get to play with that day. Remaining challenged and mentally stimulated plays a major role in my well-being, but it isn’t the be all and end all. As humans, we are social creatures that require interaction whether we realize it or not. Being successful and smart will definitely bring you contentment, but it lacks that same fulfillment your relationship with your best friend provides. Or the joy of spending hours talking about nothing with your closest friends.

Social interaction leads to creative thinking, new ways to solve a problem, and fortifying the way you think. Different perspectives and ideas help shape your mind in ways that solitary thinking can’t by creating a dynamic environment for your brain, leading to growth outside of the purely intellectual. Emotional maturity, especially in the workplace, should be as highly valued as technical maturity. Learning how to interact with people and develop relationships isn’t something you can learn from a book or an online tutorial.

I guess my point is this: Don’t forget that no matter how smart you are or successful you get, there is more to life. There are those people that you keep in your life to feel truly complete. Once you find them, you can’t let them go. They’ll help you grow in ways that you couldn’t even imagine.