Happiness

So it has taken me a long time to realize this, I have slowly developed this understanding over the past 2 years, but happiness is not a place, it is a state of mind. It is something you decide to be. Sure there are elements that may help you be happy, but in the end it is a personal choice. You just have to decide that whatever the circumstances you are in, you are just going to try your best to be happy. Obviously there are times and situations where you have to remove yourself and change things to be happy, but that is part of life. Ultimately, happiness comes from within yourself, not from the things around you. As a Latter-Day Saint I have always been brought up knowing that you can't find happiness in drinking, partying, sleeping around, or anything like that.

Why do I bring this up? Well I have had friends in the past and friends now that seem to forget this. People who have been raised in the church like I am, but through various circumstances and reasons are looking for happiness in other places. I have had "tipsy texts" or drunk calls from friends who I dearly love and care about. They are some of the people that I care most about and truly want them to be happy. They are people that I know are truly amazing people who can do incredible things with their lives. For different reasons they become unhappy with their life and think that they will find happiness by "going off the deep end" and/or going inactive. It has been awhile since I have had a really close friend do this and I had almost forgotten how hard it can be knowing that they are not going to find true happiness in the course they are taking. It is hard letting them know that I care about them and will never judge them on their choices, but knowing that ultimately they are not going to be happy in their current direction. I can honestly say that I do not judge these friends, I know from my own life that things happen that make you feel like you aren't going to be happy in your situation and that something has to change. When you feel like you have tried everything else, I can understand why they would feel the need to change the way they do. It is not our place here to judge others for the things they do, but rather to let them know that we care about them and want them to be happy, even if we do not agree with the choices they are making. And hope that eventually they really will find the happiness that they are looking for and deserve to find.