REACHING THE SEVENTH HEAVEN

I came across this question recently in one of those get-to-know-you surveys. I found it to be a rather heavy question that's not easy to answer. Sure, you could be basic and say "joy," or "excitement," or "love," but I think those words only begin to scratch the surface of what being happy truly feels like.

Not everyone feels as though they are truly happy. That's the sad reality of life: we simply can't be happy all the time. The happiest, most joyous people you know have probably been through some incredibly dark, traumatic times. I think that in order to truly understand and appreciate happiness, you have to know darkness. You have to become well acquainted with sadness and heartbreak, because those are what make happiness real.

In the song "Light" from the musical "Next to Normal," the lyrics say "Give me pain if that's what's real. It's the price we pay to feel." I relate so much to these lyrics because I believe that part of happiness is comparison. It's the absence of the pain that was there once. It's knowing that you grew from the darkness. It's knowing that no matter what comes your way, you can find your way back to your true self,...