What Is It Really Mean To Be Happy?

Elizaveta
5 min readFeb 13, 2022

It is considered that happiness is something that is almost unattainable. You can not be happy, without doing something to feel this way. Is it true?

What is happiness?

Happiness is very subjective, it will be verified from one person to another. This ‘idealistic picture’ of a desirable future, that will make us happy, as soon as we achieved it, is unique for each individual.

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Is there a universal concept of happiness?

Happiness for me is to know that I am in the right place in the world and in the course of my life. But is it possible to be not where you are supposed to be? Even if I feel unsatisfaction with the state of affairs and with where I am now, in the current situation, it does not mean that I am an unhappy person objectively. I chose to be unhappy as I chose not to see the perfect timing of my life. Happiness is a choice. Always. Universal happiness is in life itself. Our perspective is subjective, but objectively happiness exists in each moment of our lives, but we are simply do not see it. Chose not to see.

Logical question

‘Wait, how that can be a choice? I am unhappy, because of circumstances and situations that happen to me. There is nothing I can do with it to feel better. It is the external world’s fault that I am unhappy. This is not my choice. I did not choose that reality and those people who around me.’

An inspiring answer

Very interesting point, but it can be very easily disproved. I truly believe that nothing happens to us without a reason. We are attracting situations and people in our lives.

Recall the situation when you had a bad experience and you were very disappointed. At that time it seemed like the end of the world, right? However, as long as you learn something from unpleasant situations and events in your life, your time is never wasted.

Those situations are in our lives so that we can learn from them and not make the same mistake over and over again. Even if at that point of our lives it may not seem like that, almost all ‘negative’ experiences are there to make us stronger, more resilient, and more knowledgeable to achieve something meaningful in the future, which we would not be able to achieve without this particular experience.

It is all about perspective

It is all about perspective. Good or bad is situation fully depends on us. We have the power to identify and label it. It is our responsibility and our choice how we want to see this situation. Through the light or the dark. Through the position of power or weakness.

At the moment when you change your perspective and your attitude to the situation, the situation itself changes. Suddenly it is not a disaster anymore, but an interesting experience. It is not ‘I have troubles’, it is ‘I faced with something new that will teach me something, that I need to be taught right now. I can’t move on without this experience that I will get from this situation’.

The power of the internal world

A lot of situations that are happening to you are reflections of your internal world. Internal circumstances give rise to external ones, not wise versa. The energy that we are translating into the world attracts different situations, which can be both: positive and ‘negative’. The world around us changes when changing the world inside us.

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Can happiness be unconditional?

In this regard, does it mean that happiness can be unconditional? Can I be happy just ‘because’, without any valid reason?

I think that happiness can and should be unconditional. It becomes unconditional when you are started to feel that you are happy.

Hoping for the better future, but living in the present ‘now’

When you are happy you feel the fulfillment of your life and of what you are doing on the daily basis and it feels good like everything is exactly as it is meant to be. You feel confident in your path, safe, and know that your future will be remarkable and exciting as well as your current reality right now. I believe that anyone can feel this way. It is about hope for a better future but living in the present, trusting the timing of your life, and believing in the guidance of the universe, that always has an inspiring plan for you.

Everything is exactly as it is meant to be.

Never forget it and keep going. If it is dark right now in your life path, remember that there will be lanterns along the way, you simply need to reach them and keep your head up to notice their bright light, that is screaming of opportunities and new beginnings.

Open your heart to what is come and never force something to happen, that you think will make you happier. Everything is unfolding in its’ own time. You can’t get ahead of time, do not rush. Find happiness in the simple moments of your life. Happiness is everywhere around you. It is in the air, that you are breathing. It is in the clothes, that you are wearing, in the sunny or rainy weather outside.

Chose to see happiness, because it is everywhere: a beautiful sunset, laughing children on the playground, a cup of warm tea, a cozy sweater, a conversation with the person you love, the voice of an old friend, that you are hearing through the phone.

Fear of happiness

It may sound strange and illogical, but some people are scared to be happy. I know such people who chose to be sad all the time and do not allow themselves to see the light of life and miracles of day-to-day living.

They are sad not because of something, it is simply their way of living. They think that if you are sad, that is mean that you have your terrible story, which allows you to feel this way. They made up a justification for their unhappiness. It is scary to feel happy again, because who are you without your sadness? An ordinary person, without a story or uniqueness? However, more importantly, is how you are feeling on the inside, with what emotions are you choosing to live your life. It is fully your own responsibility, no one else’s.

Feeling sadness from time to time is normal, but don’t let this feeling consume you.

It is hard to be happy because it is a choice, it is taking the responsibility for your life, not everyone wants it. Some people prefer to be unhappy all the time because it is easy. Those who chose to be happy, are warriors. They make this decision to feel happiness Every Single Day.

What do you choose today?

The bright and happy future consists of days that have passed. You can’t be unhappy all your life and suddenly have a happy future, because the future is always in the future, it never exists in the current moment. When can you be happy, if not right now?

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