Okay, hear me out. I’m not getting all negative and telling you that life sucks and then you die. Does it sometimes suck? Yes. Do we all eventually die? Of course. But that’s not my point.

My point is that we’ve been sold a crock of shit when we are told that we are supposed to search for happiness in life. If we are on a constant quest to “find” happiness, we are missing the here and now, which is where satisfaction actually lives. They lied to us when they told us that contentment exists outside ourselves, in money or things or careers or praise. None of that means anything if we aren’t at peace internally.

Life is hard. The human experience can be very difficult, full of obstacles, pain, confusion, disappointment, and grief. That doesn’t make it bad. We expect that in an ideal life we will float around on a cloud, nothing difficult happening to us, everything working out perfectly, because somewhere along the way we heard that was the ultimate desire. And that’s crap. How can we ever become happy with such unrealistic expectations? It’s impossible!

If we can learn to stay in the present moment and appreciate it, accept the good and the bad without any bias towards either, and find peace and contentment within ourselves no matter what the outside circumstances – then we are headed down the right path.

I’m not saying that you stay in a situation where you feel stuck and trapped. I’m not saying that it’s easy to simply become happy with whatever unfortunate occurrences may be happening in your life. I’m not saying that you didn’t deserve better than what you got sometimes. I am saying that fighting reality is a waste of time and energy. I’m well aware, because I’ve spent a whole lot of my life doing just that – and the irony is, you can’t actually effect momentum in your world when you are squandering every moment focused on trying to change things that you simply can’t.

Life isn’t supposed to be some fantasy dream world. You’ll never get that, so stop pushing. You’ll always be discontent and frustrated if you can’t learn to appreciate the small joys along the way. You’re likely missing them if you’re intently focused on getting somewhere that doesn’t really exist.

Don’t spend your precious time searching for happiness somewhere else when the only place you’ll find it is right where you are. You have so much joy inside you, if you give it space to blossom. You can find it, you can nurture it, and you can have a fulfilled life … starting right now.

Life isn’t supposed to be happy. It’s just supposed to be life, and that’s okay. The happiness comes from within. You got this, and you can learn to feel inner peace and contentment. I got your back. Much love.