Happiness is a subject that probably everyone has thought about once. Can you be happy every single day? I always immediately have to think about a comic that I will share at the end of this blog. I get a lot of clarity out of this comic. It states that happiness isn’t actually a feeling, it’s even a greatly misused term. Happiness is actually about being able to embrace yourself and the things you do.

Life goal

Probably everyone has the life goal to be happy. It seems to be the ultimate destination. Now things will take a little bit of a philosophical turn, but happiness is actually a relative concept. Everyone is happy in different ways. Some might find having a career is very important, while others find happiness in having a big family with a lot of children. That’s why being happy isn’t really about having a good feeling. Working hard for your career also comes with frustration, fatigue and other negative feelings. And everyone that has kids will argue that raising them isn’t always an easy task. So if you would ask me “Can you feel happy every single day?”, my answer is no. There will be plenty of days in which you will feel miserable and unhappy.

Then what?

If you scrape off the unfairly sprayed-on silver lining, you will discover a completely different perspective. Within this perspective, happiness is more about the things that you do, and these differ for everyone. You can find happiness in accepting painful challenges and pouring your heart and soul  in exhausting activities. It can be found in the blood, sweat and tears you give to do something meaningful. Or, in the passion you get out of all the endless things you do. It kind of sounds horrible if you look at it like this, doesn’t it? And yet, these things give everybody the strength to keep on going. So, can you be happy every single day? Yes! As long as you can tolerate the unhappiness that comes with it.

Tips

To prevent you from losing all faith in finding happiness right now, I’ve listed some tips to help you get started to determine your own happiness:

• Define your own happiness. What gives you joy? What hard work do you like to do? Where can you be yourself? Are your needs fulfilled?
• Be realistic. What do you expect to feel when you realise you’re happy? What negative feelings can you tolerate? Does every day have to be a fairy tale or is it okay to have bad days?
• Check your balance. Are you satisfied with your current happy and unhappy days balance? What doesn’t satisfy you yet? Is it realistic to change something about that? Or are your expectations too high?
• Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Does the idea of being happy give you anxiety? Are you working even harder just to feel happy? Why do you have to feel happy right now? What would happen if you don’t?

O, still curious about that comic I was talking about? Read it here to end the blog with a smile!