Elusive happiness

Why is happiness always so elusive?

When I wanted freedom in high school, I told myself that I’d be happy once I was an adult. In college, I just wanted more friends. When I got more friends, I needed more money so we could do things.

Then, if I could just take some time off to travel, I would be happy.

Well, here I am.

I’m an adult. I have tons of friends. I have money in the bank. And I just spent a year traveling.

Now what?

My current desire is an online job. Something that will allow me to continue traveling long-term with a sustainable income. I bet you can guess what my assumption is.

Once I have this job secured, I will for sure have no reason to ever be upset again!

Wrong. Even having things I used to dream about, I still have problems. There are always going to be hard days.

In order to even get close to happiness, I need to keep my mind focused on the present. I need to stop worrying about what’s next or what could be. I need to enjoy what is.

The only difference between elusive happiness and real true happiness is the time in which I am focused.

Happiness is never within arms reach. It is here and now, or it is not. It will not arrive packaged with that new house or the next job. It’s not coming once all of my stressors have been addressed.

It is a mindset that says, I am content with what I have now.

My happiness and state of mind shouldn’t be conditional on what I achieve. It should be the foundation from which I build everything else.

I don’t want to spend my life chasing. I want to build a life from a joyous place already inside me.

Because the goal isn’t to achieve a life that finally makes me happy, it’s to be happy as I create a life that feels true to me.