So, I've come to a conclusion. We are here to do MORE than just exist.
I do not exist to impress the world. I think that there is so much more to life than simply living according to what the magazines and movies tell us is the perfect life. Hate to break it to you, but that won't make you happy. You'll probably just end up chasing after what is made up and unachievable. Truth is, there is so much more to life than just living according to someone else's standards. Everyone needs to find that one thing that will make them happy. That one thing that will enrich their life.
For me, it's living to try and make someone else's life better. It seems like there are so many people who are literally only existing..because that's all they can do. They are starving, or disabled, or homeless, or dying. Alone and without help.
And what are so many other , capable people doing? Existing. Because they can. Because they don't think they need to do more. Or maybe they just don't know how. Either way, they aren't just existing because that's all they can do, it's because it's all they are willing to do. And hey, I'm not perfect. Sometimes that's me too. But I'm trying not to let myself become someone who is so self-absorbed that all I care about is my next boyfriend or shopping spree.
So, think. What makes you happy? For me, it's frozen yogurt with my friends, or my grandma's hot cocoa at Christmas with my cousins, or volunteering with my refugees, or going on a run or cooking dinner with my sister. It's things that I do with other people. Our lives aren't just our own. Everything we do influences someone else, somehow. And when we do something to bring happiness to someone else, we can't help but be happy ourselves.
And like I said, I'm not perfect. Someone might look at me on a bad day and say, "hang on, you like to talk to other people?" So here's my confession, sometimes I just get in a funk. Where I get caught up in that stereotype about what the world thinks I should do and have. A perfect body. A cute boyfriend. A nice car. To go to the gym everyday, or to not go, but still somehow be healthy. Time. Money. All my homework done at a reasonable hour. Fifty clubs and teams. Acceptance to a prestigious college with a full ride scholarship.
But what do those things really matter in the long run?? 20 years from now are my high school classmates going to care where I went to college? Or if I could do a push up? Or that I sometimes pulled all-nighters to get my homework done? NO! They (hopefully) won't even remember if I did/didn't do those things. What they will remember is if I walked down the halls with a smile on my face. If I would compliment them. Or talk to them. They will remember how I made them feel.
Those things people remember about you are the things that you do for them. Not the things you do for yourself. And the things you do for others, are the things you do when you're not in a me me me funk.
So how do you stay out of those stupid funks?
You live for more than yourself.
I'm happy when I'm helping (isn't that how the primary song goes?). I feel good after I help a friend on a bad day. I'm happy when I tell a refugee she's so much better than the bullies at school say. I'm happy when a little kid I babysit says they missed me. And I hate when I feel like I'm useless. That's when it really becomes all about me. When I get into a funk.
So, moral of the story. Do what makes you happy. Happiness is infectious. Live for more than yourself. Do more than exist.
Find what makes you happy, and embrace it!
Until next time,
A
