What is happiness? Modern society would have you believe that it magically appears when we lose 10 pounds, get that promotion, or marry a hot banker. Maybe you'll experience it when you finally slide into the seat of the convertible car you've been eyeing. Or maybe it happens when you can hold the handstand away from the wall. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay When we attach our happiness to external sources, often projecting ourselves into the future, we miss the opportunity to experience happiness in the present moment. After all, we can never control what happens from here on out... the only thing that is certain is this very moment. By living in the future (or the past), we miss the opportunity to be grateful for what we have right now... a functioning, functioning body that breathes, that has the ability to hug, to kiss, to laugh, to cry, to express yourself through movement. And that, my friend, is indeed a miracle when so many people do not have this freedom. Gratitude is part of it. But how can you experience happiness when things really aren't so rosy right now? What if life had something really shitty in store for us and we were having a hard time being “happy.” Happiness is a state of mind, not an event or an object. A new dress doesn't make you happy, finding a new job doesn't make you happy. Think about it...we all know someone who seems happy even when they don't have a lot of money, their car breaks down, or they're facing some form of adversity. These people somehow accept that life isn't always sunshine and rainbows...maybe they even find the "glimmer of hope" in the clouds. They are more satisfied because they understand and that life is full of ups and downs...it's the duality of all life - yin and yang, light and dark, birth and death. death, and something that is understood on a deep level. by all animals. The problem for us as humans is that we are socially conditioned to want everything to be nice and comfortable at all times. For me, this helps to understand what it means to want to be “comfortable.” As human beings, we have created many distractions to medicate ourselves from the natural and inevitable difficulties of life. We get lost in glossy magazines selling idealistic images of what a "happy life" should look like, we drown in reality TV shows and heavily filtered Instagram accounts that often don't represent reality at all . We become addicted to alcohol or drugs or seek happiness in the arms of others. I read an amazing quote today from Victoria Eckerson that said, "Are you feeling a little shaken, maybe agitated, maybe fearful and doubtful and completely, madly terrified? Good. Carry on." We spend our entire lives running away from the things that challenge us when, in fact, it is precisely the things that make us uncomfortable that provide the greatest opportunity to learn more about ourselves and about our diagrams. We think that if only this person would change, or if this situation didn't happen, we would be happy. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you can never control the outside world. You can't change your partner's control quirk, the fact that the dog barks during your meditation. You can't change the neighbors playing music on a Sunday morning or the fact that you have.