What is Happiness Anyways?

"Happiness == Food"

                                  Rawan Hassunah

Upon increased awareness that "happiness" should be a primary governmental and societal concern, I started this post with the aim of exploring what it actually means to be happy. I wanted to understand what drives and determines our happiness and how this maps to The World Happiness Report's predictors of happiness.

A trip to a magical Greek island, deep and raw conversations with special friends later, and I have come to believe that happiness is only one facet, or layer if you prefer, of our human experience. It is a consequence of living your truth and is positively correlated with the authenticity of that truth. Due to this revelation, I have come to take this post in a different direction and explore what it means to live one's truth. 

I will eventually insert a link below to a quick overview of what I was working on.

I understand that there are consequences to living your truth. Relationships may be affected and hard work may be lost, but ultimately, the satisfaction of saying what you mean and doing what you want will come, and it will be glorious. The most important consequence, however, is self-acceptance and by extension, confidence. This is something only you can give yourself. Your most authentic self is the most comfortable mask you can wear.

The first step to living true is awareness. Become aware of the parts of your life that are not authentic - the parts where something doesn't feel right.

"Always listen to your gut feeling - it's the only feeling that can't be manipulated."

This piece of advice is probably the most useful and the truest I have ever received. Once I allowed myself to listen to my gut, by accepting it and trusting it, my life became infinitely better. Or, at least my attitude towards it did. Listening to my gut helped me greatly in flagging the wrong in my life.

Once you've identified the wrong in your life, tackle it with truth. Is someone being passive aggressive towards you? Call them out on it. Are you dressing in a certain way with the sole purpose of impressing someone else? Stop. Stand up for yourself. Do you. Don't live in a world of should but rather in a world of is.

Finally, my advice to you is this: say what you mean, feel what you feel and do what you want, despite repercussions and consequences.