It's a routine, a cup of steaming hot coffee in the morning, a walk on the beach with your pup, actually putting down your cellphone and picking up a good book, swimming in the ocean. These are some of the things I find myself rejoicing in: the simplicities that generate that giddy happy feeling from the top of my head all the way down to the tips of my toes. But what does it mean? This myriad of miscellaneous activities, is this what constitutes my life?

Recently, I had a professor ask the question: “What does life mean to you?” A seemingly simple question, I found myself drawing a blank. I thought, slightly panicking, ‘I don’t know?!” In the nearly twenty-one years that I have been on this earth, I’m ashamed to not have an unwavering response to this question. But, here’s what I know so far:

Happiness. Okay, but, like, how do you achieve that? It’s such a vague term that just as sure describe fleeting instances rather than an entire lifetime. That’s the catch, how to extend the happiness you feel in one short moment throughout your life. You just have to do what makes you happy. It seems simple but the kicker is: you have to find what makes you happy. How do you do that you ask? Set a goal and don’t let anything distract you from fulfilling that goal. Don't expect it to happen overnight and be realistic. It's really surprising what you can achieve when you set your mind to it. That feeling that you get after you’ve achieved that goal? That’s happiness.

No one truly knows how to live a happy and fulfilling life, everyone is different. The answer for someone may be the kryptonite for another. That’s another important factor, you can’t let anyone other than yourself dictate your happiness. Doing so would be equivalent to handing someone the reigns of your own life. What would you do if they crashed? Realizing this is vital in order to whole heartedly pursue your goals, there should be no external limitations that push you astray from your dreams.

Now on to that tricky topic, love. We love our parents, our friends, our dogs (especially our dogs). But does that mean we should enable them to make major life decisions for us? Absolutely not. Advice is just that, advice. You can listen to it, consider it, and take it if you so choose but there is no handbook requiring you to adhere to the advice your loved ones serve you. Relationships with friends and family are very important and shouldn’t be discounted, but your friends and family aren’t going to be the ones living with your decisions: you are.

It’s okay not to know. No one really does. You just have to have the strength and determination to pursue happiness relentlessly until you’ve reached the end of your life and realize you don’t have any regret. That you’ve lived your life to fullest and that you were true to yourself and to your dreams.

I hope that after reading this article, you can learn a little something from someone who's still learning something herself.