At what times in your life were you the happiest, and why?
By: Shaun Holloway
Tags: Happiness, Life Lessons, Questions, Live, Happy

At what times in your life were you the happiest, and why?

Shaun and Kiiera, 2011. Kiiera is one year old. Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, TN.

There are several ways to approach the “happiness” question. I’ll start out with how I define happiness, then I’ll share three happy moments that are both expected and not expected.

Happiness Defined

Similar to my story about your life’s mission or mission statement, happiness is defined by you. Of course, there are formal definitions like “the feeling that you get when life is good, and you can’t help but smile” or “the feeling of well-being, joy, and contentment.” For me, happy moments are when you feel everything going in the right direction, and your eyes feel open.

The last one is tricky… your eyes feel open. There’s no heavy feeling pushing against you, and you feel like you see clearly. Imagine walking down a path in a field… sun shining, clear skies… your direction is righteous in both where you are headed physically and spiritually. At that moment, there are no weights holding you down or worries clouding your mind… your thinking forward as you walk forward. Your eyes feel open.

Three Happy Times

1) Moments shared with my daughters

A lot of people do not realize how often I feel proud of my girls, and my eyes well up a little, because I feel so much pride in their accomplishments. Just like when each of them started to successfully ride a bike on two wheels for the first time or reach a milestone in their lives like moving schools through graduation.

One of my favorite moments to recall was near Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the Smoky Mountains. Kiiera was one year old, and I took her in the middle of the river. I held her, and she touched the wilderness water for the first time. It’s symbolic, as I enjoy creating those moments of joy and experiences for them.

2) My wedding day

This one sounds cliche or typical, but it’s truly one of the happiest days and moments in my life. That day was full of right… right direction, right person, right time… and just so happen to be clear, open skies… just like my eyes. I felt on top of the world to be marrying Rebecca and starting our life together, with such amazing support from family and friends. It was a good day, maybe even the best day.

3) Climbing 5 flights of stairs without being out of breath

This is one is a non-traditional moment that is more representative of a happy era. I completed graduate school and was teaching full-time, before I would relocate to Columbus, Ohio. I parked on campus in a lot at the bottom of a hill, and the path to the building where my office was required trekking 5 flights of stairs outside… bottom of the hill to the top of the hill.

I remember one day I made it to the top, and I paused… I was NOT out of breath! I even double-timed the steps. I was in my best physical shape at 24 years old, and my life mission was on track. I felt like I could do anything, go anywhere, and make a difference in so many ways.

How do you be happy?

Happy moments come and go, as there are happy hills and sad valleys that will last much longer than a moment. The hard part is making sure that the happy hills happen more often and last longer than the down feeling valleys.

That can be really hard to do. Happiness is often a choice… you can choose to look at the positive side of experiences, you can trust God to always have your back, but as Dave Canterbury once said on the show Dual Survival, “sometimes, your stuck with a suck factor of 10.” You’ll make it through eventually.

Surround yourself with people who you want to become and will help and support you. Surround yourself with the Holy Spirit and trust God. Surround yourself with people that will be with you on the other side of the valley, in the highland meadows, as you come out seeing clearly… with open eyes.