“Happiness is not a destination, it is a way of life.”
I feel like some people are waiting for something to happen. Something to change. As we grow up our lives are almost forced to change. We change schools, we graduate, we go to college, then we get a job. That is it though. There is no more forced change. For some people it ends earlier because not everyone pursues college. We, at some point in our lives, are almost forced to take initiative, but there is nothing to force us to do it. Some people get married and have kids, that covers eighteen or so more years of change. Then they leave for college. Now what? What are you supposed to wait for then? Nothing else is changing. This is it. You are here. You reached adulthood. What do you do now?
You need to decide the next step. It can be almost anything, which sounds daunting, but should be equally exciting. The scariest part is none of the choices are easy, except the safest. You stay exactly where you are, living in the status quo. Stability only gets you so far though. Risk gets your reward.
Our lives are like the stock market. If you make an investment, an effort, you increase your possibility of a reward. You also can lose it all and fall on your butt. But just for a second, let’s pretend you made an investment and you took a chance on yourself; you may be surprised what happens. You will survive the ups, the downs, and eventually you will claim your stock and come out better than before. You can choose the stock you invest in, the move you make, it is all in your hands. Do you sell your house and move to Costa Rica? Do you create a life of stability for your family? Do you live a simplistic life while traveling the world? Do you risk it all and come out a king living in a mansion? You cannot reap the rewards without taking a step towards an investment. No one living a life they are proud of did it by following a wikiHow step-by-step. They went to college, or they dropped out of college, they created a start-up, they took some initiative. They took a risk and while it seems like it is not up to you — what you do and where you go- it is. If not you, then who? You are in charge and you can control the investment, the risk, the reward.
You are an adult now. You are no longer being pushed to do anything. No more obligations, no more strings attached. You are your own puppeteer. So pull the strings on your life and make the show. Make an investment. Take a step. Create a life because if you are not happy now, you will not be happy tomorrow. You need to make your own change, no one else will do it for you. You need to create the life you want to live. Happiness is not a destination you need to reach, it is a lifestyle you need to live.
We have already taken our first steps. Mine was writing this article and your was reading it. So now what?
Originally published at medium.com