WHAT I FOUND OUT ABOUT TRUE HAPPINESS

Years back, when I was a teenager, I remember how I was so obsessed with a lot of stuffs.I wanted these things so much that not having them made me feel sad. These stuff were always things that were trending and I had always thought that once I had them, I would be satisfied and happy.

I remember the time when it was a certain clothe, it was called hackett. It was trending at the time and it was every teenager's dream.
I had starved myself a lot because I wanted to save money for them. I felt that once I had them, I remember how I would also disturb my parents too and because they refused to give in to my demands, I'd become unhappy and sometimes stubborn. I saved the little money I was given everyday to buy snacks in school and when it was complete, I gave them to one of my brothers to buy me this shirt.

I finally got this t-shirt and I thought it would end there but it didn't, yes I was happy for a while but the happiness was just momentarily. I realized that a lot of persons didn't even care or notice that I was putting on the very trending Hackett t-shirt. So yes, my cravings for things didn't end there.

Another time it was a shoe, the Nike air Force-1 sneakers. This sneakers nearly made me mad. I so loved it that I even had dreams about it. It was always in white and Black colours but I liked the white ones. I remember when my school organised an intra-school sports competition. I was to represent my house in a lot of games but I almost refused to attend this competition because my parents were reluctant in getting me this new shoe. They finally got it and although it made me really happy, the happiness didn't last. After I got the shoe, I felt almost as empty as I was before the shoe was bought.

Next was my grades in school. I always felt like I was meant to always come first in class. My parents also wanted me to Come out the best in class too. They'd always encourage me by saying, "everyone has just one head and if it's possible to have a certain grade or score, then I could be the one to get it and that if someone else could do it, I also can too". I always worked hard for my grades. I didn't just want to have a good grade, I also wanted to always be the best in my class, to always take the first position. The 2nd position wasn't an option for me, and although some others would rejoice whenever they got it, I felt really sad whenever I came 2nd. I just wanted to be better than everyone else. I was always very sad because this was not possible as there was always someone better than me somewhere. I remembetryred one time when we went for a competition and left in the first round, I realized how although I was smart, there were many more people who were as smart and even smarter than myself. I realized that grades or trying to be better than others couldn't make me happy but made me more miserable.

My most recent obsession and craze for a thing was in my early years in the university. It was for a phone, a blackberry phone. It was trending at the time and anyone that had the phone was seen as a big boy. Although I couldn't afford the phone at the time, I always wished I had one, I thought of how happy it would make me feel, how important and respected I would be and how I would never bother about any other phone again.

Fortunately enough, one of my cousins gifted me this phone. I was so happy, it seemed like a dream come true, I couldn't even believe it. It was as if she had seen my heart. I was so really happy and grateful but the happiness was short-lived as the phone lost its value within a very short period of time. At some point I was even angry with myself. I couldn't really tell why I was so obsessed with the phone in the first place. I realized how ordinary it was and how I only seemed extraordinary because of how I thought about it. After a little while, new and better phones were released and I began craving for them too.

In all these, I realized that true happiness cannot be gotten by things or achievements.

True happiness for me would be summarised in these few words "peace of mind". We only become truly happy if we have peace of mind

For me I have realized that true happiness comes with contentment and humility and gratitude. No matter how much or how little we have at every point in time, we can only be happy if we are contented with them. As much as we strive for better, it is really important that we are grateful for the little we have and are contented with it.

Another attitude that I have found to bring help bring about Peace of mind and happiness is humility. Humility makes you not to compare yourself with anyone, it makes you not to think so much of yourself and it ultimately keeps you away from many worries that ruin our happiness.

True happiness is gotten from the inside and not things, knowledge or achievements. God is the source of true and long lasting happiness and so we must make peace with him, please him and also pray and ask him to help us find true happiness.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've learnt a thing or two from this