Happiness? In This Day In Time?!

Happiness. It's something we all strive to get out of life, but how many us really know what it is? How do you find happiness (or does it find you)? How do you know where to look for it? Is it really always as easy as "following your heart?" And most importantly, how do you know when you've found it?

If following your heart down the yellow brick road leads to happiness then why isn't everyone happy. In the end people always do what they wanna do so why didn't it yield the happy ending that the person expected it to? For an example, let's say that a 19 year old girl says, "My parents want me to finish college before I get married to my boyfriend, but I really love him so I will marry him and worry about school later."

So she follows her heart and marries her 'dream man.' Seems simple enough right? But five years and two babies later when she never finished college and her same dream man comes into the kitchen and tells her it's (meaning their marriage) not working out and he doesn't want to be with her anymore, then what does she do now? She clearly probably isn't going to be happy anymore (if she ever was before). Why didn't following her heart equal the perfect ending? The answer is clear; she didn't use her head enough in the equation. Planning can never lack from your dreams and overall goals. She should have planned ahead for this day even when she was sure it would never come. Now she's stuck with young children and no education to help her land a good job and make real money to support herself and children. She's really up sh*t creek without a paddle and is also at the mercy of her lawyer as far as finances go. If her attorney fails to do a good job in representing her in the divorce and get her what she needs financially, she's left up to he own devices to provide for herself and her kids.

There's nothing wrong with doing what your heart says, as long as you use your head too. There must be a balance.

Moving on, if money and material assets bring happiness, then why do so many celebrities (I hate that word but okay) and rich people do drugs, jump from relationship to relationship, kill themselves, go in and out of expensive rehab centers, and even catch a case and wind up in prison? The answer is clear here also; money and wealth don't bring happiness by itself. A person must already be happy with who they are before any of that other material crap comes into play. If a person already has deep rooted issues with self-esteem, mental issues, addiction, money can magnify those problems...it doesn't cure them.

I believe that happiness isn't something that you "find" it finds you. It happens when you are content with yourself as a human being. Even if you're not wealthy, rich, married, have your dream job, a model, or anything else you want to achieve in your lifetime, you can still be happy because happiness isn't a destination, it really is a journey.