Challenging What Always Was with Doing

Amsterdam, Netherlands

I believe a part of happiness is learning new things and experiencing the most you can by doing the most you can. Think of the why to live, and create meaning by actually doing things you might be scared of based upon your existing thoughts about it. You can have your personal perspective, feelings or opinions, but also try challenging yourself to consider the possibility of not knowing everything before you try something that you have been hesitant about. I found a great definition of happiness from a book I just finished titled, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. "Happiness depends on the correlation between objective conditions and subjective expectations." The answers are what heightens the possibilities. If you continue to look at things only in one way, you miss out on the opportunity of discovering a different view that might actually feel better than anything you would have thought it might be. I read that book to understand how we as humans evolved and how relationships were built as the world developed. Our world would not have been as progressive if people didn't continue to seek out answers for themselves. With that development came many sacrifices and patience. I am trying to overcome the process of continuing to ask myself why I am not further along in certain aspects of my life, but finally realized—with much effort of course—that we are all supposed to be exactly where we are. Yes, you can reach for your goals, but remember it is a journey, and with that journey you must go through a process. What will ultimately end up happening when we continue to question ourselves is that we will always look into the past about who we think we are, instead of looking towards a brighter future. I want to be a better human so that I might help to evolve the diverse organizations and educational systems that make up our society. It is important for me to do things that I fear so that I can teach better, connect better, and build interesting and positive relationships. I won't be able to be happy or to help others until I can fully appreciate where I come from, and the process of where I am going.

It is always good to ask questions. I was a journalism major, so I know what it is like to be super curious about everything. However if you continue to always question why, you may miss out on the chance to discover a new way to learn. I think this is why I love teaching so much. I don't have all the answers, yet instead of asking others for them, I just go out and do things so that I can then bring that knowledge back to my students. It was easy to try new things when I was living and teaching in New York, so that is just what I would do. Each time I would go off and do things and come back to tell my students about my experience, I would find an energetic sense of awe and wonder in their spirit. It was almost as if I unlocked potential in their thinking about the reason to just go out and try things. Maybe now they each carry with them a desire for the 'why not'.

I recently lost my brother. This most traumatic time in my life made me question everything. I realized after a year of grief, that the only way I will understand why, is to continue to keep living and doing. In a world full of questions, I will understand how to develop my own answers to a deeper meaning and purposeful life that will only get me further to that ultimate goal. Happiness.