I’ll Be Happy When…

Where does true happiness come from?

Some people wait all week for Friday to be happy.

Some people wait for 1000 followers to be happy.

Some people wait for 5 pm to be happy.

Some, for a text saying, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been selected for the role’.

Life footage of me waiting for the next ‘big’ thing.

Then, there’s me—who waited for a new phone to be happy, who waited to have Pinterest outfits, who still waits for 5 pm because that’s when I’m free from lectures, who dreaded Mondays and desperately waited for the weekend. I can’t forget about the holidays…I used to wait for them too. And when I got them, I was happy. The feeling quickly faded, though, because there was always something else to look forward to. It felt like the same cycle social media thrives on: brief excitement, then the search for the next thing.

If you always waited for a particular moment to be happy, you wouldn’t have many happy moments to look back on. Life is short, so why not learn to live in the moment and find happiness even in the most mundane things? It’s working towards a promotion while being grateful for the job you currently have, or looking forward to Fridays, without wasting your Mondays. It’s about appreciating the life you have.

It doesn’t happen at once, or even after a few tries. You’d have to keep practicing to get it right. I’m still learning it. It’s not always easy, but then I remember that there will always be Mondays, a better job, a cooler outfit, a busy day at school, and the best thing I can do for myself is to make the most of it. I’m not where I want to be yet, and sometimes it’s saddening, but cherishing the life I have now gives me peace and inspires me to push for more.

I’ll be happy when I get new novels.

I’ll be happy when I get a 5.0 CGPA.

I’ll be happy when I have more friends.

I’ll be happy…now.