Thoughts on being happy.

There isn’t a list of rules on ‘how to be happy’, and two different people may not necessarily be happy in the same situation. There’s no real definition of what happiness is or what it feels like – apart from the state of being happy, obviously – and that’s because it’s down to the individual alone to decide whether they are truly happy and what can be done to solve it if they aren’t.

Life isn’t always fair, and everyone goes through times in their life when bad things happen. Be it a death of a loved one, an end to a relationship or friendship, or bad results in a test or exam: disappointment and sadness are natural emotions for us to feel through periods of time in our life. These are inevitable, and for the most part unavoidable, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We need to allow ourselves time to feel down or unhappy, so that we know who’s there for us when we need them, and to notice our happy moments when they do come around.

However I have found that there are things that we can do in order to help ourselves be more happy and positive, and a lot of the time I have found that it’s other people’s negativity that stops me from being completely content. Whether it’s a snide comment on how I look or an opinion I express, or a relationship or friendship going wrong and ending up toxic, the people surrounding us have a lot to do with our mindset. Is this okay or right? No not at all. Should their opinions matter? No not at all. Yet we still let others thoughts on us affect how we think and feel about ourselves.

One thing I have learnt recently is that how people treat you isn’t your decision, but the people you surround yourself with is. Surround yourself with people who are beautiful on the inside rather than basing it around the misconception of what ‘beautiful’ looks like aesthetically. Surround yourself with the people who make you happy, and who respect you, and not those who you have to impress or act differently around. Everyone deserves the chance to be happy, confident and to be surrounded by people who love them for them.

“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” – John Lennon