Expect To Be Happy

To see the glass as half empty makes me feel as if I’ve lost something that I can never again regain.

I prefer to think of it as having used some of it to accomplish something for myself (such as quenching my thirst), having some left over to further develop on my first accomplishment (still thirsty!), and always having the option of regaining a whole new glass full of more possibilities once the first one is finished (waiter!).

To me the glass represents personal accomplishments and the possibility of achieving the impossible.

People run around constantly, trying to achieve something, and in the end, they don’t really achieve anything. Sure, they may end up with a successful career, a big house, a fancy car, maybe even the proverbial 2.3 children and white picket fence that we’ve all heard so much about, but what they’ve achieved isn’t who they are.

Society has decided along the way that being and doing are one in the same thing, but they are as different to one another as night and day.

A job is something you do. Doing something with your life is a good thing. What do you want to do? Sure, that makes sense! What do you want to be? You can’t be a thing. I wanted to be a fire engine, but that can never happen. I can pretend I’m one, but I’ll never actually be one!

Who do you want to be? A happy person is exactly who I want to be. Being someone you’re happy to be is a wonderful thing. It is far more important to pass this feeling of worth and confidence on to your kids, rather than worrying about what they want to do. Be yourself first and then decide on what to do.

Life is a never-ending cycle, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a circle. Take a moment out of your life to remember your childhood dreams: the person you wanted to be as well as the things you wanted to do. Ask yourself, honestly, is this how you imagined your life to be. Did you stay true to the child that you once were? Get back to basics and get to know yourself again. You’d be surprised how easily, and unknowingly, you changed your ideals, and the very essence of whom you always believed you were. Rediscover yourself, and allow your children to do the same. Give them the courage to be whoever and do whatever they desire. Make it known to them that happiness, as a goal, is indeed a noble aim for life.

Even now when people ask me what I want from life, I have no socially acceptable answer. The difference now is that I don’t need society to accept it. The little girl that was confused at the age of six, by someone who had such a profound effect on her, is back, but without the confusion.

And happiness is still her quest in life.