What does it mean to be happy?

I don’t think many of us understand what it really means to be happy, we know the feeling but we’ve forced it into something it’s not. I read somewhere that happiness is not a destination, it comes and goes just as other feelings do and I’ve not stopped thinking about it since. How wrong we all were to scrape and scramble trying to reach happiness and praying we get to stay there for longer this time, without realising happiness is all around us and within us, coming and going in the most subtle ways. 

Perfection doesn’t equate to happiness and pain doesn’t equate to sadness, We’re such complex human beings with so many feelings that can coexist, you’re not sad nor happy, you’re just living breathing and experiencing life, going through the motions and feeling different things. This is why some of the most painful moments are sometimes interrupted by laughter or love and some of the happiest moments can be tainted by an aching, awful feeling inside. We don’t know why this happens but I think there’s something so beautiful about it, I feel like it represents hope, an understanding that things are never the same -1 second is a lifetime and everything can change in that second! 

We suffer so much as a human race because of thousands of external factors and internal turmoil that hasn’t been resolved, we patiently or Impatiently wait for happiness to find us again and until that moment we walk through life being blind, trying to ignore the other emotions because we only crave happiness. 

I think true happiness is when you’ve accepted that a feeling, a moment, or that life is temporary and therefore you know moments of complete euphoria or even peacefulness will not last forever which makes you bask in the moments just so much more, appreciating every second you get to feel something so amazing and then during moments of complete despair, you’re able to hold on and accept your feelings knowing that things will change and will not always feel like they do right at that very moment. 

 I think during times like this it’s so important to practice gratitude, whilst also being realistic with yourself and your feelings! Accept how life is now, knowing that you don’t like it and that it’s shit and understand that you’ve got the option to live, whether you’re on cloud 9 or facing the hardest time of your life, be present whilst doing so and believe in things changing! 

Eb & flow x