Do you still remember the last time you were genuinely happy? The last time you did not care about being able to enjoy and forget about everything else, have you forgotten? Have you? Or you just forcibly live your daily life setting those aside to go with the flow? I know it’s hard, but I want you to know that it’s okay. It’s going to be okay somehow. How? No one knows but you.

Remember those times, when you’re so free and just care about what flavor of ice cream you’re going to get for a special occasion? Have you forgotten the feeling of getting your first puppy and spending all weekend just to play with them?

Please do not forget about those times. Do not forget that we are all kid in our own ways. Do not forget that you can still celebrate special days in your life and that you can still get a day off to give yourself a break. Do not forget that you can still be happy for getting a good luck, a thank you, or even congratulations for a job well done from your boss.

Please be happy for it. Please be happy for getting the feeling of lying down in your bed with new sheets on after a long stressful week in office. Please be happy for the kid next door having to enjoy the rain because he got the chance to bathe in it, not knowing that it can cause a hassle to everyone else especially commuters. Just please be happy.

Don’t you get it? We have all been too caught up by technology and by the ever-changing environment that we all have to adapt to. I am not saying that it is bad, what I am saying is, you don’t just sacrifice real happiness just to prove to everyone else that you’re happy in their terms. You work with your own pace, never for someone else’s.

Are you really happy getting to post a picture of you in your bikinis and getting hundreds of likes? And as you are trying to browse the comments and the list of likers, you felt awkwardly satisfied by how many people admire you? Ask yourself, does real happiness needs validation from people who do not experience first hand what is it like to be you? Please be happy for what you look like, whether all glammed up or just woke up look. Remember to appreciate yourself. No one should validate you to feel good, to look good and to be genuinely happy. And I love Instagram, too! Just know that this does not summarize your life. Live out of it.

Are you really happy getting to live alone in a city of your dreams and leaving your family and friends behind to pursue your career? No, don’t get me wrong. It is not something so bad to do. But it might get worse though. How? The time you started receiving achievements from your boss, the time you started to finally join night parties with your new found friends, the time you started to wake up in the middle of the day with a stranger beside you in bed, that is the time it actually gets worse. So please, please be happy.

Call your family members and friends back in your hometown. Tell them how much you miss them. Tell them how much the city you are living in is so beautiful but real hard in terms of the way of living. Tell them how happy you are that you are getting to experience this kind of opportunity. Say it like a kid is too excited for throwing their first party before school starts.

But please stop there. Stop there. Stop in that exact moment you are genuinely happy about what’s happening. Learn how to settle sometimes, do not be overwhelmed. It is okay to strive for more, but striving for more does not mean stepping out of your shoes and wearing someone else’s.

Let me ask you. What are you so afraid to be for? Genuine happiness should not be rare. It should be felt every day of our lives, especially from the things that we tend to take for granted. Start living without validations. Stop asking for appreciations. Remember, it’s the little things.