Happily never after

We all have an imaginary life stuck in our heads. It is exactly how we wish for our future to be.

Some may be happily married, with kids and a simple lifestyle while some have successfully conquered the corporate ladder and have a luxurious lifestyle. Both choices are equally satisfying.

But who knows what we will be in the future? Or rather, who we will want to be?

One thing is always common in these scenarios, we seem to be happy and content with everything and everyone we have. But the future is uncertain and shaped by how we shape our thoughts. And thoughts, well they are forever changing. So what makes us so sure that we will live happily ever after?

I remember when I was exiting my teen years, a friend of mine who is 5-6 years elder to me told me one day that ‘life is gonna be really tough from now on’. Boy was she right!

That line is still stuck in my head. Adulthood isn’t easy. It’s full of struggle, crumbling mental health, losing friends, heartaches and confusion. Yet some people manage to be happy with all those things in the background.

We have to understand that being happy shouldn’t depend on a particular situation or a particular person. We attach ourselves to the outcome of everything in life and convince ourselves that we will be happy when we get that job or have a certain bank balance. By doing this, we waste the present moment in trying to wait for this contentment.

The truth is, no matter how much we have accomplished in life, there will always be a part of us that isn’t satisfied. It longs for more, it argues that something is missing in life. And somedays that part will win the argument.

I believe it’s our soul reminding us that this isn’t real. That we are here temporarily and shouldn’t get attached to this world or else we’ll keep coming back to the misery. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience and not the other way round. All the hardships only make us strong enough to proceed further in the real world.

So if you have a very tough life, consider yourself lucky. And strong, obviously. Not everyone has the natural strength to bear misery.

So be happy now. Not when you are successful in life, not when you have the perfect partner and the perfect life. Because life is never going to be perfect. But it is, at the end, imperfectly yours!