If you were asked the question, “What makes you happy?” would you be able to answer it on the spot? Quite a lot of people may have an immediate answer—their number one dream. Or there are others that would say, “It’s not a what but a who.” There was a line in the movie Jerry Maguire that says, “You complete me . . .” It was when Tom Cruise’s character declared his love for his love interest played by Renee Zellweger. The character’s happiness depended on the love of his life, which is not unheard of as there are a lot of people who would also name a person as the source of their happiness. It may not necessarily be a significant other—it could be a son, a daughter, a parent, a friend, sometimes relatives such as grandparent or aunts and uncles (the people that most likely made an impact on a person’s life).
Happiness
It is hard to quantify happiness. Any material that could make one happy at one point may no longer apply in the next few days. Sometimes, when one achieves the goal they have been going after for a long time, they could end up being disappointed, asking, “Is this it? Was the goal worth the effort?”
Often overlooked
People tend to forget that it’s the little things that matter. If people count the times they smiled or laughed in a day, shouldn’t that be considered happiness? Perhaps a cute dog “smiled” at you. Or one person complimented you. Or when you are the recipient of one tiny, tiny act of kindness—a young person opened a door for you or let you go first in a queue perhaps.
There will be longings or wants that are not achieved without a challenge. Sometimes, goals take time to be achieved (perhaps a house or an expensive material you need to save up before you can purchase).
There are some people you want badly to be friends with. You want some people to love you back the way you love them, but they may not return the feelings—at all. But there will be those people that you are not aware that you take for granted who are there for you and would be there for you always through ups and downs.
So when the next time you are asked what makes you happy, you could probably look at the tiniest things that happened in just the last few hours that made you at least smile. There are lots of those that can happen, you just might not notice.