Essay:

I believe that happiness is the only true measure of worth. When it comes down to it, being happy is the only thing that makes life worth living. I see so many people walking around who are not happy with the way things are going and often wonder why they go along with it so casually. Just as much as we have a right to live, we have a right to be happy. Now hold on for a second, just because you have a right to happiness, don't expect that you will be happy all the time. Sometimes things get overwhelming, other things don't go as planned and sooner or later gloomy skies and downtrodden spirits set in.

First off, if you're unhappy, there's only one thing to do. Get happy as fast as possible. Play music, read a book, go for a walk, take a shower, do whatever, just do something to get happy. If you're still not happy, do something else until you are. This seems to be a pretty straightforward solution, but there is common problem which a lot of people experience. Sometimes we don't know what will make us happy, and, to add to the confusion, the media and other parts of our culture tell us what they think will make us happy. You can't just generalize about what will make people happy. Everybody finds happiness, finds fulfillment in different ways and it can take some trial and error before you figure it out for yourself, but you will recognize it, without doubt, when you come across it. When something stresses me out or makes me unhappy, I usually rely on music, in particularly playing the saxophone and djembe. The music allows me to drop out of whatever headspace I was in, giving me a fresh place to start from, a renewed happiness.

There are two situations, however, where seeking happiness isn't ideal. One is when it causes unhappiness in someone else, and when it comes down to it, this just a matter of understanding equality. I know that we have made great progress as a society to realize what equality really means, but we still have a lot to learn. If I have a right to be happy, then everybody else does to. Simple as that. The other situation is when short term solutions to unhappiness produce even more unhappiness in the long term. Unfortunately, sometimes reality isn't clear and we don't know how what we do today will affect our lives tomorrow. Just try to know yourself, which for me has been the most difficult part, and let your heart guide you.