On happiness and the little things in life

I truly believe that happiness is the root of all the decisions we make everyday. Ultimately, everything we do, no matter what it is, is a result of our innate desire to be happy. Unfortunately, happiness is a state of mind- it comes and goes with each fleeting moment of our lives. It's not something that we can simply achieve; it isn't absolute. It's also a relative feeling- there wouldn't be happiness without sorrow. So I guess our real desire is to experience constant periods of happiness and minimize the time we feel sad or angry.

What makes us happy?

This may seem like a simple question, but let's think about it for a minute. If we knew exactly what made us happy, shouldn't we just strive for those things and as a result be happy all the time? Sounds too easy. I think we get a lot of joy out of achievement. Meeting a goal or overcoming an obstacle can really lift us up and the more difficult the challenge, the more gratification we get as we accomplish our goal. Unfortunately, sometimes we can get caught up in this notion. We set our goals too high (I'm not advocating against dreaming big) or take on challenges that unfold too far in the future and forget about the present.

I have this friend who is the only guy I know that can find so much joy in the littlest things in life. It's truly amazing. I would consider myself to be similar, and this is one of the reasons I believe we're such good friends, but this guy is on a level of his own. Now I'm not saying that he doesn't set long terms goals like I mentioned above (or maybe I'm wrong about that lol), but he, better than anyone else I know, finds so much joy in the present.

Whether it be good food, a funny youtube video, or even recalling a past event, this guy is so often smiling or laughing. The crazy part about this is that his happiness is infectious- it's so evident in the joy he brings to the people around him. I think that I personally am a more happy individual because of this guy.

It's important to dream big and find pleasure in your journey to achievement. Just remember not to overlook the little things in life that you come across along the way.