As I lay and look up at the sky my eyes are immediately drawn towards the brightest and biggest light I can find. Just like most people I ignore the little stars winking into view because they’re so small and flicker in and out of sight. Thinking about this I realize how much we do the same
thing with finding happiness.
We’ve been conditioned as humans to always be searching, always trying to find our idea of true happiness. But sadly, in doing so we completely fail to pay attention to all the simple joys in our lives. For me this idea used to be all too true, and still can be at times. I first began to understand that living in search of happiness tears you apart just before I began 10th grade. Being diagnosed with depression and anxiety finally made me realize the truth. When I was hospitalized I had to face the things I always attempted to avoid. I had to actually let myself go and just express myself. In my first therapy session, we talked about what made me happy. And I realized that I had always been living and saying to myself “you’ll be happy eventually, just get through each day.” That day I realized instead I should’ve been finding even the small things in each day to make me happy, those small bursts of starlight that happen for each of us every day.
If I said that it’s been easy trying to think that way, I’d completely be lying. Even though I truly believe that there is something in every day that can bring you happiness, I still struggle to find it for myself sometimes. There are so many little bursts of brightness in each day, little things to bring about true happiness. One of the places I tend to look when trying to find a little starlight is my best friend. The only person who has truly stuck by me and showed me what a friend is meant to be like is her. We met in 7th grade and every day since she somehow manages to make me smile. Even on some of my worst days trying to cope and make it through, she manages to make me smile. The truth is without her so very sarcastic, but supportive attitude I wouldn’t be where I am, wouldn’t be here writing this.
Friendships aren’t the only place to look for the happiness that exists in each day, there’s also finding the activities that make you feel alive. For me, it’s music. Listening to music, playing instruments, talking about music, it all makes me happy. The idea that we as humans have the ability to create such beautiful sounds and rhythms along with some artists writing the most meaningful and resonating lyrics is amazing. Music is my escape from focusing on myself and the future, it lets me just live and enjoy the moments I’m listening to it.
Instead of looking for the moon, looking to find the brightest possible light and searching for the largest amount of happiness possible, why not focus on the small bursts that come to each of us every day. Everyone’s life has drawbacks and everyone always says “The future will be better” but why not live in the now, try to find what makes today better. Focusing on the negative, and believe me I know how easy it is to do so, will only make things worse, instead try to find even the smallest happiness and enjoy it. We are around much too short a time to be searching for whatever idea we each have of true and complete happiness.
