Day Eight: Happiness

If you asked Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanut gang what happiness was they could give you so many answers, heck they could sing you a song about it. But what I've discovered recently is that happiness is different for everyone, it's situational and individual. One thing that I need to keep in mind is that it is possible and okay to be sad but still be happy about certain things, and conversely to be happy but still be sad about other things. It's a natural part of life and human emotions that we need to learn to accept and deal with.
Recently I've been finding my happiness again. I never was sad or depressed, but I didn't have happiness in the forefront of my mind. I was searching for happiness, if I found it, it was a happy coincidence, but I decided to actively find happiness again. This had to come from within. I knew I had to first find happiness in myself before I could find it from other people and other places. Media has always pressured girls with images of how society thinks out bodies "should" look, and this has hurt people's, including my own, self confidence. I finally started to accept my body for what it could do, rather than put it down for what it looked like. I started going to the gym again, focusing on how good I felt and how strong I was becoming. This helped me become happy with my body. I also joined swim club. Always walking around in my bathing suit actually made me feel better about my body and increase my confidence.
After I started to become happy with how I felt about my body, I sought out other sources of happiness. I started on the small things, like the way I dressed. I stopped worrying about what others thought of my clothing. I wear dresses and skirts most days, not to dress up for anyone, but because I like them and they make me feel confident, like I can conquer anything. I did my makeup for me, because I enjoyed it, not to impress anyone walking by on my way to class. I think doing small things for yourself is the biggest thing you can do for you confidence and to increase your happiness.
I've also opened my eyes to find people with similar interests to my own. This has increasingly made me realize that UVM is the right school for me. As I was hiking (in an event put on by my school) my friends and I were talking about how hiking is amazing, and how to many, sleeping out in the cold on hard rocks to most sounds awful, but how it sounded amazing to us. I stopped caring if people were going to judge me for what I like; I am not ashamed to be interested in what I am interested in. All of this happiness has changed my outlook. It has built my confidence and made me feel empowered. I feel like I have changed myself, and now I can go out and change the world!
-Libby Morehouse