Five Easy Steps to Happiness

Until recently, I never knew the meaning of happiness. I wouldn’t have expected to find happiness after losing all of my friends on a graduation trip to Panama City Beach, but I did. The man upstairs works in mysterious ways I suppose.

So, I left my trip three days early because of all the mess. On my way home I realized, “Those assholes weren’t ever my friends and I’m an idiot.” I never thought I would hear myself say it, but I guess it was hidden deep inside all those years they were “pretending”, and to an extent, I was “pretending” as well.

When I got home, I got a new cell phone number, deleted all of my contacts, and started from scratch. It was a big leap, but it felt so rewarding to be rid of all the drama in my life. This leads me to my first step to happiness, “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” Oprah Winfrey was so right! I literally felt a weight being lifted and could picture myself rising higher to the top, to being successful, to great things.

After the cleaning out of my closet, my mom gave me a book. This book happens to give you everything you want if you read it and follow the rules right. “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne is the best book I’ve ever read, and I highly recommend reading it for yourself. In The Secret, it begins by telling you to focus on what you want and to think positively about it. The first thing I wanted was good grades. My grades were pretty good in high school, but not great. I wanted A’s. I focused all my attention on making good grades in my two college classes I was taking this summer. Every test I took after that, I made an A. I ended up making an A+ in both classes and I couldn’t believe it. As it would anyone, it made me extremely happy. Climbing higher on the ladder of success.

My third step to happiness… LISTEN TO THE BEACH BOYS! I never actually smiled when I listened to music until listening to this band. If the Beach Boys don’t put a smile on your face… then stop reading… you’ll never be happy. Just kidding, if you don’t like that kind of music, another genre will work.

After I got rid of all of my ex-friends, I noticed myself smiling a lot more. If you’re looking to be happy, smile, that’s it. I would smile at everyone and everything. For example, I smiled at the woman working the window at Taco Bell, it might have made her day, it might not have. But, it sure did make me happy.

I recently discovered a quote off of the internet that just about sums up everything I learned about being happy. “Happiness is never stopping to think if you are.” I realized that if you spend all of your time trying to make yourself happy, you never will be. Trying to be happy is a lost cause. If you want to be happy just be happy. I wasn’t looking for happiness when I discovered my five steps to being happy, the things I listed just made me feel good about myself and I think doing things that make you feel good is the key to happiness.

If anyone is reading this article, thank you for listening.