Everyone defines happiness in their own way. What makes one person happy is not the same thing that will make another person happy.

That is what can make finding happiness difficult.

You look around and are told what happiness is from the people in your life, media, and marketing. You are told that buying things will make you happy. You are told that finding your true love will make you happy. You are told that being thinner, wearing the right clothes, or changing your body in some way will make you happier.

These things are not true and they lead you down a path of perpetual future tripping. Now, don’t get me wrong I am a big believer in planning for your future, having goals, and dreaming big. But, future-tripping is where that tendency can go haywire. Future-tripping is when you get trapped in the constant need to be thinking of the future and how everything will be better once you get there. The problem is that if you are always future tripping, you are never living that life you are dreaming of, it always stays in the future.

This is why we need to redefine happiness. This is why we need to accept that different things make different people happy, and that is OK. Actually, it is more than ok, it is what makes us all unique and interesting people. If we were all the same it would be a very boring world.

Do you know what makes you happy? Do you know what makes you excited to get up in the morning? Do you know how to tap into your joy and silliness? Do you know how to get out of your head and into your body so you can play and explore? Do you know how to laugh and smile so much your body feels like it is going to burst?

These are skills we usually have naturally as children, but unlearn them as we grow up. I don’t want that for you. I want you to feel true happiness. I want you to let go of the future tripping and outside ideas of what happiness should look like and start exploring for yourself.

Start right now by defining what happiness means for you. You could write down a list of things that really make you happy, what happiness feels like in your body, a time that you truly felt happiness, or just your thoughts on happiness in general. Just start exploring what happiness means for you in the most honest way you can.

If you are brave enough, I would love to hear how you are defining happiness in the comments below. And, if you want to have a little more fun exploring happiness in your everyday life then join the 21 Day Happiness Challenge.

Much love, Danielle