When I was a child as I'm sure many people do I dreamed of the day when I would become an adult. When I was a teenager I dreamed of the day I would become an adult, then once adulthood came I longed to have my childhood back. As they say, the grass is always greener. I believe everybody always envisions their lives a certain way, an ideal existence. But as I've gotten older those dreamy ideals have been replaced with ice water in the face reality. One thing I have slowly come to accept is the misleading notions of happiness we witness on television, read about in books, hear about in songs, its not real, life and happiness don't really work that way.
In reality happiness is learning from past transgressions and being sure not to make the same mistakes twice. Observing and becoming aware of your faults and short comings and tweaking them to make your self a better version of you. Acknowledging when you've won, like having family & friends who love you or going off to a job everyday that you don't despise. Accepting the fact that loss is inevitable. You will lose loved ones, friends, jobs, lovers, money, respect, dignity and all the other things that make life life. Once you reach a certain level of maturity, not age, you will come to accept loss. True happiness is just being mature enough to accept the things you can not change, changing the things you can for the better & being grateful for the small things.
As time has past I have not only accepted growing older but I've become excited about it. I realize that everything in life, the good and the bad have led me to this point, led me to the woman I am and the woman I will always be. It seems like as the years go by every time I open my eyes I see things just a tad bit clearer. So keep looking and seeking your own version of happy but don't keep your peepers shut for too long because it can all be gone in the blink of an eye ; )
