Happiness. What we all strive for. But why is it that we sometimes don’t realize what makes us truly happy? We associate happiness with material items or short moments that don’t actually add to the big picture. People may tell us that we look happy or we may see pictures of ourselves and think we look happy. We cling on to any glimpse of happiness no matter how much of a mask we have to put on in order to do it.

Sometimes we even lie to ourselves about how happy we are. We don’t like to admit when certain things or people always seem to make us happy. Why? Many times we feel we don’t deserve this overwhelming happiness. And when you think about that, deserve is such a difficult word. Shouldn’t we earn things in life? Of course, but happiness isn’t one of them. Happiness is something that we all deserve. This is a very difficult concept for many people who haven’t been dealt the best cards. But being dealt bad cards doesn’t mean you can’t win the game. Sure, it’s sometimes going to take all you got to allow yourself to realize you deserve happiness, but if that’s what you truly want, you can have it.

We face many obstacles that make us question our happiness. Some situations give us more happiness like falling in love, finding your best friend, or getting some sort of an award. Others take away from our happiness, like loss of a loved one, a break up, or even a bad test grade. One of the greatest thoughts is that we all have the power to recover from them. As a child, candy and toys could keep us happy for days, but it gets much more complicated as we age. You have relationships to create, families to please, bills to pay, all the while attempting to find time for yourself to be happy. Life is, however, way too short to not allow ourselves to find that happiness. If doing something makes you happy, go do it. If someone makes you happy, find them and never let them go. In the end, happiness is a choice that we can all make.