Every time I walk into Barnes and Noble, I always see Joel Olsteen’s smiling face on some bookshelf. I have never, and probably will never, read his books. Yet, the self-help bubble has me intrigued.

People love reading books about finding happiness or meaning in their lives. I can’t help but wonder if reading those books bring us any closer to the answer.

Think about it – living is a one-sided experience. The way I live isn’t necessarily the way that you or anyone else should live.  Living is all a matter of perspective.

I find it incredulous that someone can read a book and suddenly be closer to the answers. The beauty of life is that each day is a new day, and each moment is a new moment. You can reconcile to move on with your life, or you can stay stuck in whatever hole you’ve dug for yourself.

If there’s something I’ve learned, it’s that life does not wait for you to feel whole again. Time keeps going.  We all experience days where we do not want to get out bed – days where life seems to be dragging you down. In those moments, it seems like things can never improve and that life will never get better.

Yet, there is always a silver lining.

When you’re at your lowest, you see exactly who is going to be there to pick up the pieces. You see exactly who cares about you and loves you. When you’re at your lowest, you see how strong you can be and how powerful mind over matter really is.

Sometimes we hurt but that doesn’t mean that we will never be happy again. Happiness comes from the inside, and if you cannot be happy with who you are, then you can never be happy with someone else.

Happiness starts with you, and then you can learn to share it with someone else.

I wish I had the answers, and knew what it meant to be living the life that I should be living. I just know that the answers cannot be read in any book, or learned about in any class.

It’s a matter of taking steps to figure out who you are and what you want. It’s a matter of figuring out what makes you happy and what makes life worth living. Other people can supplement your happiness, but first, happiness must come from within.

Happiness cannot be found in the content of some books. You find it in your heart. I will be striving to find it, and I hope everyone out there is striving to find it as well.

So close your books for a while. Grab your car keys and drive to a friend’s house you haven’t seen in a while. Put your shoes on and go for a run. Just don’t sit around and expect things to happen for you – you need to make life happen for you. 

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” – Kahlil Gibran

To contact The Ionian’s Heather Nannery, e-mail her at [email protected].