Society has a big idea of what we need to be happy. And we have become experts at living up to its standards.
We accept these illusions of what happy should look like, and we’re hell-bent on killing ourselves in pursuit of it.
It starts when we are young and eager to prove our worth to the adults in our lives. Then the illusion transforms when the world gets its hands on us, as we start craving external validation.
We become driven by the addiction to achievements, materialism, work, and love—in hopes to give our life meaning. All the while unaware that we are chasing goals that never fulfill our healthy needs.
Slowly our identity sets in and we become wound up in a tightly constructed prison of society’s definition of happiness.
Falling short of our mission, we start to feel anxious and sad—yet we don’t know why. But we ignore the voices inside and continue to ‘do better’ in order to feel better.
We practice all the things to scratch the itch–get fitter, work harder, chase love & money, join new communities, switch jobs, move across the country, become “wellness” experts.
Yet none of these external changes ever seem to fill that gaping hole inside and soon our life starts to feel predictable and mediocre.
What we’ve failed to realize is—the core of our happiness doesn’t come from the outside, nor is it presented to us in a pretty box with a bow around it.
And while we might deserve it, we aren’t owed it.
It’s who we are, not what we have. And we must fight for it by continually becoming a better version of ourselves (not someone else).
And like everything in life, it's impermanent—changing as we evolve.
Most importantly, it looks different for each of us. And much to our disbelief, it doesn’t involve perfect.
But in order to define it, we must find the courage to look deep inside and learn more about who we are. And by facing the painful truths of our past so we can determine who we want to be and where we want to go.
Because once we do this important work and discover what happiness feels like for us—we finally have the freedom to create.