Psychology

Is happiness in life a journey or a destination The state of being happy is an ideal all human beings seek after from childhood, but can it be attained So the six-month baby girl demands to suckle, at four cries for a doll, at seven begs for attention, at 14 she follows the current fashion, maybe marriage will make me happy and the list goes on and on the quest of every woman in attaining happiness. Happiness is a state that all human beings seek after and will use various means to attain, raging from people, things, sports or experiences. This paper depicts my own beaten path in the quest for happiness showing that each individual has to find their own path, because what makes one happy is not necessary what makes another happy as the saying goes one mans meat is another mans poison.

Happiness is Morning Dependent
Until I wake up in the morning, it is difficult for me to predict how throughout the day I will be happy or sad. I am a morning person, so sleeping in late into the day makes me groggy and is made worse once my schedule starts overlapping forcing me to rush through some activities in the day. Overall, I am a happy person but this hinges on my morning.

To free myself from a foul mood is easy though. A pleasant surprise works wonders. It does not have to be expensive or over the moon but just something I did not expect. It can be a surprise phone call, visit or a gift. It is the reason behind the act done which changes my foul mood and not the monetary value or duration taken.

Relationships key to happiness
 I enjoy visiting my girlfriends and interacting with them. There is a pleasant effect relating with people injects in me. After a few laughs and sharing the experiences we had while apart keeps me happy and enables me to see a problem I had from a different angle and hopefully solve it.

Also I would opt to watch a cartoon or an interesting drama story on the television before retiring for the day. The program makes me happy as I laugh at and with the characters as I relate with the plot. It is even better when I watch the episodes with my brother, mother or sister because they also enjoy laughing alike.

Sad life experiences
When my maternal grandmother died, it was very shocking news to meet. She was the closest person in my life to have ever died. I was very unhappy especially upon seeing my mother sad as I knew she was most overcome by grief because it was her mother. I thought if I cry without my mother seeing me would help her not realizing the damage I was exposing myself to.

But when my grandmothers casket was lowered into the grave tears rolled down my cheeks. It was a heart wrecking long episode of crying but it was the last for that death since that last cry by her grave lifted a heavy burden that had crushed my jovial spirits since her death. This affirmed again on my openness with people and that people help me recover when I am sad.

Secondly, my best friends mother died and was to be buried far from where I was working. Beatrice had been my closest friend while I was in the University but because of the bust schedule I had failed to think much about the grief Beatrice was going though. But during the actual burial day things changed.I traveled to her home for the ceremony. When people started narrating their experiences with the diseased, my friend Beatrice cried uncontrollably and that is when a cord was struck in me, I started crying too. The pain of her loss crushed me, we cried together. Soon, she was relieved and so was I. I felt happy to have been part of her mourning during such a trying time in her life.

Also when we moved from our family home, we had lived there for 23 years, I was unhappy with my parents for planning such a change and doing it without consulting us  the children. Luckily, some of my friends had gone through the same circumstance and after sharing with them my feelings they shared with me their experience too and I was comforted. Soon I bonded with the youth at our new home locality and felt at home and happy again although it took some time.

Different things make people happy
However my elder sister, Daisy is the complete opposite. So what makes her happy - material things When you visit her she is most concerned on whether you are smart before she can thank you for taking your time to visit. If you are dressed in a way not pleasing to her then she will talk about it several times on that day and also reference it in the future.

Daisy values gifts so much that one can become her friend by just giving her something but if the gift is not worth her, she will forget it very fast, like you never did give her any. Once she bought a pair of shoes which were quite unstylish to my judgment but once I passed my comment she was very unhappy. She has great attachment to things. As for me, I am a people-person and therefore value relationships a lot. Reading through my story you will identify one common trait, people make me happy.

Conclusion
The time and space would fail me to tell you about Teresa who is made happy by travel, Martha who will eat to boost her spirits, Mary who will read a book and escape to fantasy world to recover from a sad episode in her life and Rachel who will sing her heart out among others. The key to happiness is to know that happiness is never a destination because life circumstances keep changing. Just because you are happy today does not mean you will be happy tomorrow. Find out what makes you happy and always turn to it when sad but make sure your source of joy is something positive that adds value to your life.