happiness
Happiness, defined; things that help you find happiness, keep it, and share it with others.
I Went To Six Flags Alone, and I Enjoyed It
It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year. Every step you take outside is a filled with a crinkle and pop, and the joy that it brings fills you with enthusiasm for the next time you would gather with your family. The time associated with this amount of enjoyment is not Christmas, but my own personal birth date, October 19th, 2001. That’s right, the second best time of the annual is the day you were born, because it marks the day of the miracle it took to be able to enter the world. The point is, it was around this time when the plans I made up inside of the most advanced system of all would be finally executed. The greatest place I could think of that fills me with the most happiness is Six Flags, Great America. I’ve been going there for about 5 years now, it’s become one of my favorite places to be. So I set out to go there, and as anyone who is friendly and mildly popular, I invited everyone that was close to me. I was sending out texts rapidly, like a desperate cook trying to make it big time with his special recipe. Fast forward, the special day comes. My birthday party was a week and a day from my birthday, and I was more ecstatic than I had expected to be. Arriving at the flags, my wonderful guarding King and Loving Queen had dropped me off, making sure everything was a-okay, expecting my friends to all meet me there. As I got out of the car, I rushed to the line hoping to be first, due to the track record of time-stealing and adrenaline-heightening long lines in the past. Stepping into the park alone was something new for me. It wasn’t natural at all, but the great thing was that I was in the park, even though the overcrowded lines were still ahead of me. Imagine walking at a normal pace, but the daytime is fading away faster than usual. That is how it was for me, because, I spent the entire day at Six Flags alone. Not one of my friends or family members that I consciously, purposefully, and lovingly invited showed up. On the surface, the reasons being a lack of transportation; all on the surface. I knew that the real reason my party was avoided was a deeper meaning. What that is? I’m not sure, I just knew there was one. Plus, this isn’t one of those “you don’t know what people are going through” moments, because I’ve seen the people I call my friends go through even more ballistic measures to make it to another human beings gathering. My birthday party was a solo deal. As I entered the line for the last ride I wanted to experience, everything started to hit me. My first instinct was to fully emphasize to myself the fact that I wasn’t good enough for people to make it. But I knew that wasn’t true. As I began to see the positive, I realized my strength. I realized what it really means to be independent. I accepted the fact that I had spent an entire day with the person I was birthed with, myself. The crazy thing is, the whole day, I hadn’t really felt bad about it. It was on my mind, just not my priority. What do I take from this? In contrast of the world’s idea that you need people to be happy, you don’t. You only need the person in the mirror, because that’s the person you are truly and factually with the most, anyway.
By JABÉZ GARDEN💚6 years ago in Motivation
The Time I Met Zendaya
It was the day I’d be going to see Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman, going to the official launch of her clothing line. Ring Ring! Ring Ring! Buzz Buzz! Buzz Buzz! Ring! Buzz! These are the first noises I heard when I woke up. On average days, hearing that noise would lead me into great turmoil, debating if I would use all of my energy in a single moment to get up for jail, also known as school. This day in particular, I associated the loud, continuous noise with positivity. I felt the strongest sense of love, oneness, and joy! Jumping up, I slipped on my house shoes and gave no thought to going to the bathroom. On the way out, I stopped in my tracks to go back to my iPad and look at the time. Right on time I thought to myself, having anxiety that I would wake up late and miss out on the happiest opportunity. Dodging to the room where my parents sleep,
By JABÉZ GARDEN💚6 years ago in Motivation
People aren't happy anymore
It's extremely difficult to secure - and even sustain - happiness as a concept in our lives nowadays. I'm going to begin with this - people just aren't happy anymore compared to the way they used to be in the past. Obviously things are far different in the present compared to how they were back then, but the one thing that remained the same was that we as humans have tried nothing less but to pursue our happiness.
By Gerrard Ooi6 years ago in Motivation
9 surprising facts about the world
One thing is for sure, whether we're in school or not, we're learning all the time, but it doesn't make the world any less interesting. It's also easy to be surprised and curious about new discoveries or knowledge, especially when the information we learn is actually very close to our reality. Today, Andy will introduce you to nine surprising facts about the world.
By 李小白6 years ago in Motivation
Stop Chasing Happiness and Start Making Yourself Strong
Chasing happiness doesn't make sense. Happiness is a transitory state that, in order to exist, must be counterbalanced by unhappiness. To live a good life, a much more worthwhile thing to pursue is strength—particularly mental toughness.
By Jess Filippi6 years ago in Motivation
The Impalpable Scars of a Surgical Nurse
My name is Kathryn and I am lucky to have a second chance at this thing called happy ever after and I am letting my heart guide the way on this one. I am not usually one to express my emotions but this topic near and dear to my heart. Mental health concerns and nurse suicide is on the rise and I have zero tolerance for workplace violence especially in the operating room. My story is inspired by the song “YOU” by James Arthur that released in October 2019. The song found me at a pivotal time in my life and the lyrics greatly impacted my perspective regarding the trials and tribulations I have experienced in my life. My journey has been quite interesting but strangers would never realize the inner struggle I faced daily because I was wearing a mask to hide the pain I was truly experiencing. I am one of six children growing up in the small town of Murphysboro Illinois. My parents divorced before I reached the age of two and my mother moved out of state leaving me with my father. This caused me to have abandonment issues growing up and my home life was not stable. From the outside looking in on my family, no one would know the truth of what was going on inside my home. I did not let my home environment show through to others during my younger years. Learning quickly at an early age to transform my pain into power by taking a deep dive into sports and school activities taking my mind off of issues in my home environment.
By Kathryn Diane Jacobs BSN6 years ago in Motivation
Life, Changes
At 35 years old, I have seen a lot and done a lot more. Most things people can not imagine. Just when I think I get a grip on life, I figure out something new to learn or some improvement I would like to work towards. I'm thrown a curve ball and have to learn how to cope with something new, all over again.
By LilithV6 years ago in Motivation
Men Who Dance Are COOL
Men Should Dance Too. As a dancer who has been dancing my whole life, never once have I seen or danced with a boy in one of my classes. Not one. And that is saying a lot, since I have been dancing since age 5, in 3 different studios, of different styles such as ballet, jazz, musical theatre, broadways jazz, and now flamenco. Out of hundreds, maybe even a thousand (if I am being over-dramatic), people I have danced alongside, not one of them was a boy. How absurd! I always wondered why this was. Now I can see that it's because of the oh so popular stigma that boys cannot or should not dance.
By Veronica HD6 years ago in Motivation
It's All Yellow
Have you ever started a gentle yoga practice and exactly three minutes and twenty-six seconds into it you decide you’ve had enough? Because that is what I just did moments before walking to my computer to type this. My life lately has felt a lot like that three minutes and twenty-six seconds of yoga: probably good for me, but feels pretty damn terrible. To give you an idea, I sat on my mat, and about ten whole seconds into the instructor telling me to “find a comfortable seat” my heart palpitated for the first time in months, and I could feel my anxiety levels rising. No one mentioned my calming breath was going to come with a side of cardiac distress; this isn’t what I ordered and you can take it right back where it came from. Now, if you’ll notice, I continued on the yoga adventure for an additional two minutes and sixteen seconds after that incident, and for two whole minutes and sixteen god awful seconds all I could think to myself was “what the fuck is wrong with me?” Now, this isn’t meant to be a deep dive into the effects of self-talk, or yoga, or why I couldn’t even get through a paragraph without cussing, but what it is meant to be is a deep dive into me, every week (or more), and all the dumb shit (I’d like to point out the connotation of “dumb shit” can be either positive or negative; this is important) that is going on in my brain and body. I’m searching y’all, and I figured if I’m keeping a journal about all the ins and outs of my life to try to make sense of it, I might as well take the few of you who want to read along with me for the ride. I promise it won’t all be as negative as the above, but it won’t be censored, and it won’t be easy, and some of you might not even think my jokes are funny, but that’s okay because I’m giving you this warning now. Just think of all those road signs telling you to watch for falling rocks, beware of ice, and to fucking merge when the lane is going to end. Maybe I’ll keep up with this quest, and maybe I won’t, and all of that is okay, but I hope some of you relate, mostly because that’ll mean I haven’t completely lost it, or, we both have, and in that case at least we have each other.
By Emily Fritz6 years ago in Motivation
The Artist and the Work
Preface This is an introduction to my story that lead to my personal growth and my unfolding passion for art. I decided to name my first series of work “My Unfolding Journey”. These works depict how I have allowed myself to become more than I was allowing myself to ever be. Therefore, I give you a glimpse of my world right before I created these works to have a better understanding of how they came about.
By Ana Ortiz6 years ago in Motivation
Red Is Not My Natural Hair Color
Christmas Day, 2016. Today’s the day. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time and I’m finally doing it. Glancing towards the bathroom counter, I reach for the round white box of henna and look at the label: red. Carefully unscrewing the lid on the small plastic container, I peer inside it. I wrinkle my nose as I brush the bits of greenish powder off my fingers and dump the contents into the mixing bowl. My wet hair is dripping gently on my back and the fog from the shower still hangs thick in the air, breaking up into a soft mist. Slowly and cautiously I drizzle the hot water into the bowl over the henna, watching as it turns into a thick green-brown paste. The smell of herbs is strong and somewhat unpleasant, and the appearance isn’t too appealing either, reminding me of goose piles on the sidewalks. The smell and the look resonate with me right now. It’s been a rough couple of weeks. I’m home from college for Christmas break; I just finished my first semester and it was a doozy. I don’t really have a better way to describe it; it was intense. Terrifying. Heartbreaking. Awakening. I learned more about myself in three months than I had learned in 19 years, and I was still learning more. I knew college would be hard. I didn’t have any way of knowing I’d spend so much time having violent panic attacks. I didn’t know I’d understand the painful truths of things that happened to me. I didn’t know I’d be miserable enough to try to kill myself. But this was a fresh start. I’m starting over for good this time, because starting college wasn’t enough of a new start for me. I want something more, something solid, something that made me feel like a different person; something for good. I wanted people to look at me and see my fierceness, my strength, my ability to get back up again when I fell down and keep going after fighting a battle. My mixture is ready. I pick up the bowl and lean over the bathtub. Lowering my head, I sink my fingers into the sultry-looking henna and grab it in handfuls, running it through my hair and over my head. It squishes through my hands, staining them a wild orange as I spread the herbs through the massive waterfall that is my long, thick hair. For an hour and a half I wait, the mixture getting cold and grody underneath the plastic bag that holds my hair in place. Finally I return to the bathroom and untie my hair, releasing it into the abyss to rinse out the clumps of used henna. Waiting for my hair to dry takes an age, but when I finally look in the mirror a few hours later, I see my dream come true. Long, luscious red hair flows down my frame. The moment I see my reflection I know there’s no going back; I’m a redhead now. I see a warrior leaving battle victorious; a phoenix rising from ashes. I see me. Me for who I really am. I have no idea of knowing what the hell is ahead of me but I’m ready to face it now. Somehow I feel stronger and more beautiful than before. When I return to campus my new professors and many of my peers tell me how lovely my hair is and think I was born that way. I smile quietly to myself and let them compliment me, knowing something they don’t. Red is not my natural hair color.
By Tori Reimschisel6 years ago in Motivation
