A Life Course of Satisfaction and Genuine Happiness

Hi friends, how are you all doing today? It's been a while here and I'm happy to participate in writing this prompt and sharing my personal experience with you friends.

A lot of people place so much importance than necessary on material possessions, forgetting that it can be useless sometimes.

Yes, money is important and adds to joy or comfortability in homes and relationships, but should it be placed above more important matters that can bring us joy and add meaning to our lives?

I remember growing up, coming from a poor background, I would always watch movies where a rich kid ends up falling in love with a very poor woman and would spoil her with so many expensive things, the end story is always "happily ever after"

But what happens when tragedy strikes and the money is gone?

Would that love strive for a few months when that money is no more?

The thing is money come and go, it can develop wings like a bird and fly away, buy what happens afterwards?

What can bring you encouragement to live and fight that sickness, that depression and appreciate the beauty of the earth, to cherish your loved ones, people who would go extra mile just to put a smile on that pretty face.

These are questions I often asked myself when choosing a life partner, it helped we weighed my options and think about the future and not just my immediate needs or wants and I have come to appreciate these little things that brings me much joy.

The first is to love and be loved, the second is spending quality time with loved ones, and the third is forgiving freely even when the other person doesn't ask to be forgiven.

There are a lot more non material things that gives me joy, but I will stop at three.

Now, why are these important, and how have they impacted me?

Love is a beautiful feeling that makes me feel wanted, appreciated, and valued. Sometimes, we can love and not have reciprocation, thus it can be really hurting, frustrating and could lead to self-destruction and bitterness.

I'm grateful to have a beautiful love story, I was loved first and was the one that needed to reciprocate. It took time to readjust my thinking and to appreciate what I really have. I learned gratitude and was able to focus on what's more important "love" and learned how to love back in return, and this helped me have a successful relationship and marriage.

Spending quality time with friends, family, and loved ones can't be overemphasized. Spending time with my husband helped me learn more important things about him, his likes and dislikes, it helped us build a strong bond. We would take long walks just to chat, laugh, gossip and share experiences, this moments shared are priceless and gives me great joy.

It also helped me build a strong friendship that goes beyond the couple things and I'm grateful for that because today I have my husband as my first friend.

Lastly is the willingness to forgive. This part can be really difficult, especially when someone close to us hurts us, it can be very hard to let go of that resentment.

But I realized that whenever I'm mad at someone, my heart always skip and beat faster when I see the person. I'm anxious, uncomfortable and unhappy just because I'm mad at someone and this can affect our health badly. Meditating deeply about the effect of unresolved anger or malice on my peace of mind and happiness has taught me the need to let go of the burden of resentments and have my peace of mind which is the best gift I can give to my heart, to forgive freely even before the person comes to ask for forgiveness. This way I'm happier, healthier and what I feel cannot be quantified.

This has kept me going until now, building lasting relationships that's based on true friendship and concern for each other.

Honestly, sometimes it can be difficult to achieve these goals but looking at the bigger picture, we let go of the burdens and set our self free to attain greater happiness.

This way, prioritizing meaningful aspect of life such as love, spending time with loved ones and forgiveness over material possession, can fill us with joy and genuine happiness.

This is my response to #kiss 155 prompt.