The number one tip for happiness

I’m not sure it’s going to be what you think it is. 

It’s not very long and complex either (at least, it’s not complex to write. But to put it into action – maybe?) 

It’s nothing I can sell you. It’s nothing tangible, wrapped in a pretty bow. 

You probably won’t want to Instagram it. 

If you want to be happy…

…you have to embrace sadness.

There is no light without dark, and so there is no joy without sorrow. 

In our western society, the suffocating efforts and emphasis on happiness is, to me at least, madness. 

Happiness never wanted to be this centre stage. It can only survive with all the other colours of our emotions. It can only exist next to sorrow, grief, anger, disappointment, contentment, boredom.  

Happiness is not the destination. It’s a fleeting emotion, like all of them. 

The truth is, we cannot cherry-pick our emotions. If you don’t allow yourself or others to sit in the discomfort, you are capping the ability of joy, too. 

And this isn’t to be read as a fast-track ticket to self-wallowing. And it doesn’t mean that there aren’t daily things you can do to harvest a happier life. 

 But perhaps it’s to say - if someone says they’re sad. Don’t try to fix it. Don’t think less of them. Just sit there. Let it pour out. Give it a place to go, so there’s room for that happiness to come through, when the time’s right…