Pepetoe

Sometimes being happy all the time can be a challenge, especially being a teenager and having to be around people at school or work all the time. It can be very draining. ‘Happy’ too can put a downer on people because nobody knows what is really means. Google defines ‘happy’ as ‘[a] feeling showing pleasure or contentment’, but to me and to most other people, this definition can be clouded from time to time. To me, happiness is not just a feeling and happy is not just an emotion that you feel from time to time. It’s not a changeable, temporary things. I believe that the purpose of life is to find and reach happiness – the goal. Happiness, in my eyes, is the destination of life, which, when you arrive, is everything you want it to be. It is when you finally understand your role in the world: what you want to do with your life, who you want to be. It’s understanding who you are. This takes a lot of time and figuring out, and, even though I think I have achieved it, I may be wrong, since I am only 16.

Being happy isn’t something that you can be from time to time, other times being sad and upset. If you are feeling sad and upset even sometimes, then I don’t think you are truly 100% happy. But you are nearly there. It takes time, and a lot of thought at 2a.m or in the shower. Happiness is when you can listen to a sad song and not let it hit you or force you into a breakdown or to cry. It’s when you can appreciate those songs and reminisce the happy memories from them.

Happiness is when you know who you are and are able to help others with the journey, without beginning to feel sad yourself about someone else’s story. You should look for inspiration in others and enjoy helping them. Being happy is liking to help others whilst looking out for yourself.

No one can truly define the word ‘happy’ or ‘happiness’; everyone has their own meaning of it. But I think the general view of it is that it’s not an emotion or a feeling, but a destination and an aim – life and its obstacles being the journey to it.

I may be completely wrong about this, heck, I’m only 16, but this is a start. I have only had 3 years of ‘journeying’ towards the aim of happiness, so I can’t say much about the topic, people would argue. Nonetheless, I have reached this understanding of it now, and I am happy. I can look at myself in the mirror everyday and smile and like who I am. I enjoy every single minute of every life, even if it is sitting in the cold waiting for the bus, or playing hockey in the pouring rain, or doing a mountain of homework. No matter what the situation is, I can find a positive in it and focus on the good. This is something that I have learned recently, living in the moment, and it has really helped me to reach this destination of being happy.

And let me tell you, this is a great ‘feeling’!