iamsuperbianca

"hApPiNeSs iS a cHoiCe."

my friend jippo said that to me a few years back, and its been stuck with me ever since.

we say we're happy when..

- we're having fun with friends,
- we're in love,
- we're spending quiet time at home with the family,
- we get a job, a promotion, or a raise,
- we buy something we've been wanting for a long time,
- we are pleasantly surprised by someone or something,
- and when we make other people happy.

but sometimes we chance upon inspiring people that despite the not-so-happy situations they're in, still find genuine happiness..

- the friendly dancing policeman in alabang hills who despite the heat of the sun, never fails to salute you with a big smile that starts your day right,
- my editor and cameramen friends who despite being awake for 48 hours, can still crack jokes and share funny stories with you,
- the taxi driver stuck in traffic the whole day, who while listening to an am station shares with you his thoughts on how the country can be better.

don't these people just make you smile and help you learn to appreciate the simpler things in life?

defining slumbook answers.

what is your greatest goal: to be happy and successful in life

everyone answers it. even i answer it! when i am asked, "50 years from now, where do you see yourself?" i usually answer, "happily married with children, with a successful career or business." very general, but very true!

we all want a happy family, who doesn't? some of us may have grown up with dysfunctional families, but still, we long for our own families to be happy. we hope to marry the one perfect for us, and we hope to have healthy, normal kids who resemble us para pwede nating ipagmayabang na "sa akin nagmana yan."

we all want a successful career. something that will make us earn enough money to life a comfortable life and provide for our families. or for others, something that will make them known and established in their respective fields.

we all have the same goal, but we all have different paths to getting there.

what will make YOU happy?

i had dinner with my good-friends-slash-workmates mori, mae, and x, and we all got talking about career paths. i couldn't help but ask them, "when you're 80, old and gray, and you look back at your life, what would make you say you're happy?"

- "if i have a good, happy family."
- "if i see my grandchildren not go through the hardships i went through."
- "children. healthy, normal, smart, and GoD-fearing children."

i don't know if its too much philosophy, but i just really wanted to ask this question in light of our career talk, because if these are our end goals, wouldn't it necessarily follow that our career moves work to reach the things we want most in life?

my answer? i can say i am truly happy if i look back and see that i spent each moment of my life with the people i love, doing the things i love doing. so what is my path, then? that's why i guess happiness is a choice. because each and every choice we make in life, based on what we are given in life, will decide if we will be truly happy.

what would make an 80-year-old-you happy?