‘Simple Things’.

“We spend entire lifetimes looking for things that are, more often than not, staring us right in the face, because we were always told that good things never come easy. And I think that we have glorified the idea of working ourselves to the bone to feel like we ‘truly deserve’ whatever good we have achieved, and somewhere, we have failed ourselves spectacularly. You don’t have to move mountains to feel like you’ve done a good job. You shouldn’t have to feel like you need to do something monumental to earn a moment of happiness for yourself. That simply beats the whole purpose of being happy. I never quite understood the concept of transcendence when I first learned about it, but now it has begun to make more sense to me. I can’t really explain it, but it is pretty much that one moment when you’re laughing with your friends until your stomach hurts and you have tears streaming down your face, and you laugh for so long that you forget what it was all about, in the first place. In that one moment, you feel a warmth inside you that glows in your smile. That warmth has a light so bright, it threatens the sun. I think that we fail to realize, in so many moments, that it is such a simple thing to be happy. There is a huge difference between being satisfied with the work you’ve done and being truly happy. I cannot convince you to try to be happy unless you see it for yourself. We are all plagued by things that we wish we didn’t have to and we silently suffer in the face of those who refuse to believe that there are, indeed, monsters under your bed, hiding in your closet, monsters that hang from your ceiling— monsters that people would rather refuse to believe in than acknowledge, because that would make them real. But we all need to be told that we deserve to be happy, whether we have our demons or not. There are so many who have either tried to or will try to make you believe that you have to earn every last drop of the happiness that you’re looking for, but that’s just garbage that people say to make things so simple seem unattainable. The simplest of things around you, the very things that keep you held together are capable of making you happy. There are always limits to things, but there isn’t one on happiness, and you shouldn’t have to run away  from it the minute it comes your way. It’s like spending an exhausting day outside and coming home to a comforting hug, or a mug of your favourite hot chocolate or coffee. It’s like sitting in the warmth of the winter sun. It’s like reading your favourite book after years. It’s in the simplest of things and neither I nor anybody else can tell you what the word ‘happiness’ means to you. Maybe, someday, we’ll all be ready to accept the fact that we are worthy of love and happiness, after all. And I hope that when it happens, we’ll be ready to embrace them with open arms.”

Featured Image by Timo Vijn on Unsplash