WHAT IS HAPPINESS TO YOU?

When I was younger, I imagined happiness to be a door.

A golden door that hid unimaginable possibilities.

I would tell myself then that all I had to do, to be truly happy was to get to that door, turn the knob and walk in.

So everyday, I lived my life walking towards it.

But the path wasn't straight. It was crooked, cracked with huge jagged rocks jutting from the bottom of voluminous potholes.

I tripped so many times and every time I got back up, the door drifted away.

Then I would run, trying to catch up, and just when my little hands were about to touch the knob, something happened...

A bad news, people's insults, feeling of worthlessness, my family's uncaring attitude, an emotion so dark and murderous, that it ate into every fibre of my being.

That was how I lived. Running, falling, crying, getting up, struggling...just to get to that door.

Until I grew up, and I realized, on that very crooked path that I could find happiness where I am.

I didn't need to have everything figured out. I didn't need to have anybody's approval or validation. I didn't need a bullion van of money or private jets or a date with my favourite celebrity.

I didn't need a perfect man who would complete me and give me everything I wished for. I didn't need a million friends and I definitely did not need to follow every rule.

I could be happy where I am. So, I stopped running and started seeing. I started to be grateful for the things I had and I still am.

Now, each day, a new smile invades my face and it's not the fake one I had to put up all the time. My heart is full of joy and I'm free to express it.

It's not all good all the time. There are moments that are bad and scary but that's life. I'm just glad that I no longer have to live it running and chasing after something that I've always had.

What about you? What is happiness to you?