It's something we all want, yet seldom can anyone put into words what happiness looks like to them.
For me, one of the things that holds me back from being able to find what happiness looks like to me is guilt. I feel guilty all the time. Sometimes for things that are truly ridiculous to feel guilty for. Being hard on myself is something that really holds me back from true happiness. Guilt is good when it is helping you to be better, to transform yourself into something more, to repent or to change. BUT I also believe it is a tool of the adversary to keep us from realizing our true potential as sons and daughters of God. And with that constant crushing feeling, it is impossible to find out what true happiness looks like to us.
So, my first step is letting go of that terribly discouraging feeling of guilt and determining what happiness means.
True happiness to me is being content and happy with who I am. It is finding that contentment in my faith and in my family. It is being a successful wife and someday mother. It is maintaining close relationships with my family, and ensuring that my friends and family know they can rely on me. It is traveling the world, learning about other cultures so that I have the enhanced capacity to be grateful for all that I have. It is being educated and confident in my field. It is balancing everything in my life that I am passionate about - family, friends, learning, music, and service to others. Happiness gives me faith in a better world. Because I am happy, I can inspire others to live up to their divine potential.
