Doing What Makes You Happy

Move towards those things that bring you happiness. What brings a smile to your face? What brings you genuine joy in your heart? Find what makes you happy and do it. It doesn’t have to be amazing, big, or impressive. It can be something small. And while I believe it’s possible to create happiness within before you do anything outside of yourself, I also believe that certain things in your outer world will be a match for your heart, and will light you up in a way that feels uniquely happy to you.

Growing into adulthood, I often judged the things that made me feel happiness, as if they weren’t important enough. I also didn’t value happiness or joy as something that mattered. I thought it was selfish and frivolous to be happy. Now, I truly believe it matters a lot. You are here to feel joy. You are here to be your fullest self, and part of that is allowing yourself to be happy. 

The things that make you happy will be unique to you and will be a signature of your heart. What brings a smile to your face? What makes your heart sing? I dare you to write a few of them down and do at least one of them every day. If you are already doing that, then wonderful! 

I leave you with this poem by Mary Oliver. Chances are you may have read it, but if not, I hope you enjoy your first reading of it. It’s a beautiful and powerful poem that holds so much meaning.

Hope you have a great day with at least one chance to do something that makes you happy.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.