At this time in our lives, some of us are approaching our late teen years, some of us are in the middle of our teen years, and some of us are in the middle of adulthood. No matter what point we are in our lives, we all strive for one simple thing: happiness.

Yet this simple feeling we are all striving for is not always easy to achieve. So many life factors get in the way, preventing us from feeling our best. Despite life's inevitable occurrences, there are ways to prevent our daily struggles from getting in the way.

International Day of Happiness was Sunday, March 20, and happiness is everywhere. We may not realize it all the time, but happiness is at every corner you turn. Whether it be the winter trees blooming into spring around campus, having a dance party in your friend's room at 9 p.m., adventuring with your roommate to get dessert off campus after being stuck in the room all day, figuring out a difficult math concept, or simply just taking a walk around the lake, happiness is there. In times where it seems like happiness is impossible to find and it seems like nothing is going right and all your plans have failed, know that happiness is out there, the moment you stop searching for it, that is when it will come to you.

Something that has taken me forever to realize is that I am in control of my own life, not others. No, I cannot control certain things, such as what other people say or do that may affect me negatively. I also cannot control what others think of me. I cannot control weather or the past or the future. I can only control what is in the now, the present. Life is about 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it. It is your choice how you react to certain things, and you can react to them in either a positive or negative way, which will overall increase or decrease your happiness. I promise that having a positive outlook on situations will in return create overall happiness for you. Mindset is really key. Positive minds lead to positive lives.

Overall, at the end of the day you need to do what's best for you. You are the most important person in your life, and you need to remind yourself of that more. It is OK to be a little selfish sometimes, but be wary of how this may affect others. The happiest people are the ones who give joy to other people and find happiness by eliciting it.

This week I encourage you all to find positivity and happiness in the simplest of things. Accept the events that happen to you for they are only happening for a reason.