Simply Rooted In Happiness...

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(Edited)

During my teenage years, I read a suicide story on the internet and kept wondering why someone took his own life.

Is he possessed or did someone killed him and made it look like a suicide just like we see in movies? Different thought crossed my mind and it became more confusing when I read the story further and discovered the deceased was not just successful but rich. I didn't see the connection between a successful person and suicide because why on earth would you take you life when you have everything you want in the world? It was disclosed in the story that the person had been struggling with depression but I still couldn't connect riches and depression until I grew a lot older.

As ordinary as it sounds, happiness is a feeling every individual in this world claim to be after and we have our ways of going about it. While some people acquire and keep this feeling with ease, there are many who are struggling to be happy and it took even me time to understand what happiness truly means.


Looking back at the past, it's fair to say that my family was happy despite our struggles then. We lived in a small room, didn't have electronics or fancy things like other family but we were happy. We loved eachother whole heartedly and that helped nurtured the feeling.

But as years passed, I started losing my grip on happiness because of our situation as a family. I believe that we could become happier if we had more and these thoughts messed up with my mood. Things that made me happy ordinarily didn't mean much to me any longer and I had my eyes fixed on just securing the bag for the family.

I drifted away from my family for sometime doing multiple jobs daily which made a difference for us financially but not for me emotionally. I started eyeing bigger jobs with the thought that it would help but no matter how much I earned then, the happy feeling was temporary because after exhausting the money, that's all.

It was so bad that there were nights when I cried because all I felt was emptiness instead of the improved happiness I was chasing around. While thinking about my situation, it crossed my mind that when we were struggling as a family we were happy but things took a different turn for me despite the little growth I brought to the family.

Fortunately for me, it became clear that happiness had a slim connection with material things and true happiness lies within. I realised that we were happy as a family not because we had enough but because we were contented with what we had back then and depended on what people would tag ordinary for happiness. Somehow, I had to retrace my steps back to being happy and in the process of doing that, I cultivated some habits that has helped me stayed happy despite all the chaos happening across the world today.

I am not in any way saying I didn't need money to be happy. Of course, I need money to pay my bills and happiness comes from being about to cater for myself and loved ones but that's not all. I realized that I could be limiting ourselves to a bigger feeling of happiness by just depending on money or material things for happiness.


Achieving and maintaining happiness again started with contentment for me. The act of staying content daily births gratitude and these things makes me feel like I am on top of the world even during my most challenging time.

At a time, people envied me because they thought I had everything I wanted since they wouldn't find me brooding or complaining about my struggles. I honestly had little but practicing contentment and gratitude daily did a lot of good for me. I don't feel pressured or oppressed by anyone and I just go about with my life filled with so much happiness.

And while the little I had made me happy, there was this natural motivation to grow in life so it wasn't like praticing contentment made me stagnant.

Another thing I do is spreading happiness because I believe whatever I give out comes back to me in multiple folds so everyday, I try as much as possible to sprinkle the seeds of happiness on people, nature and even animals.

I remembered a particular day, I entered into a drainage to help a puppy. I got my clothes stained but the level of happiness I derived from that small experience can't be quantified. The best part was that for a long time, whenever I come across the dog in the neighborhood, it makes me happy that I helped it the other day.

The feeling is the same when I can help anyone and it doesn't have to be about giving out money. There are several small act of kindness I render and they help me stay happy just by reflecting on those moments.

Doing the things I love also counts a lot and the list is a long one meaning I don't run out of things to do. These activities includes spending time with my family, hanging out in nature, engaging on Hive, cooking, seeing a movie and others. Whenever I am doing these things, I have little or no worries at all. I just let myself enjoy the moment and as well let happiness spring forth from them.

Finally for this prompt, I keep negativity away both physically and mentally all the time. These things spread everywhere through people, tragic news/event and others but I try to keep my distance as much as possible.


Over the years, these practices have helped me to stay very happy. While I recognize the limitations of material wealth, embracing these simple daily activities have helped me to break from pressure or constant desire for material things all in the name of staying happy.

All Image are mine



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16 comments
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Very well said! Anyone can claim happiness, irrespective of material status. I'm glad you discovered that at such a young age and that it helped you through life. Wonderful. Thank you :)

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Yes mama, happiness is a feeling we all have within us but we have different ways of connecting with it. I believe in natural connection and nothing more.

Keeping it pure makes the feeling a permanent one, thanks for your time....

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Judging by how many of the world's richest people seem depressed, it looks like the opposite might be true. The more you have, the more depressed you are.
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Thanks for your #KISS
We enjoyed it 😉


lips sealed

speaking lips

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Honestly, I think that's just the simple truth. A lot of wealthy people barely feel happy and I have seen a few videos that made me ask what's all the wealth for when I can't buy happiness.

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Well spoken, in my country there's a saying that goes like 'money doesn't make you happy' and I agree, however, the LACK of money will make you unhappy because it gives you problems.

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We all need money to do so many things but it shouldn't be our source of happiness. It's simple as understanding that there are times when we will be low on cash or probably things aren't going well with us financially and staying happy during those times will be impossible.

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Reading this made my day better! :) The pursuit of happiness isn’t all about material things or money. It’s about being content with what you have.

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Material things are temporary because there are times when we will have in abundance and times when there will be little.

Being content will make any of the times perfect and happiness will be a permanent thing im our lives.

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You know, I read this and see you in a new light. There are days I just wish to go back to those days when it all seemed okay. It was fun. I didn’t lack anything or at least that’s how I saw it. I was carefree and content. Which is why we ask, where did it all go wrong?

Anyway. I guess life won’t be worth living if it was all smooth sailing. We need to find ourselves somewhere in between all the chaos because that is unavoidable.

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It's really unavoidable really and we can't expect a smooth sail like you have said.

As kids, there were so many things we didn't know. We weren't too eager about tomorrow and even when we did, we believe our parents got things in control. Life was pretty smooth even though it wasn't and if we look deeply, contentment was that thing that made life perfect.

We lost it at a point because we want more out of life and tracing ourselves back to being content will do us a whole lot of good.

Thanks for your thoughtful response, I am happy to have you around.

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That is very well said; true happiness comes from within. Material things are only a plus .

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Yes Meya, we all have the power to be happy but not everyone understands that and they turn to material things for happiness which doesn't end well in the long run.t

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I'm glad you retraced your step and got to truly understand. And reading, I am happy knowing you are happy because the truth is that life isn't easy. But you found your ways and appreciate those things that brings you happiness

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Life isn't easy if we are being realistic but regardless of what life brings our way, we can still choose to be happy.

Thanks for the visit, I appreciate it.

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