No one can show you the way to happiness.

No one can show you the way to happiness when you can not see it alone. And no one will ever try to show it to you. Why?

Because people validate their choices and, in general, happiness, according to the failures of those around them. From your high school colleague who participates in the 10-year retirement just to boast with the business card, to the girlfriend whose dying relationship seems more bearable than your loneliness, everyone is looking around for reconfirmation to be happy.

It is said that all the choices you make in life are the best choices you could make at that moment. At the same time, there are not two people who have been faced with the same choices at the same time over a lifetime.

In this crazy race for happiness, there are some intermediate points that society guides you through: faculty, long-term relationships, professional achievements, wedding, children, etc. Apparently, the key to happiness is not to stop running from day to day, from weekends to holidays and from one year to the next ... and most importantly - you do not want anything else.

The list of check points to be happy does not reveal self-knowledge, the number of books read or visited countries, there are no lifelong friendships or volunteer working hours. All these seem optional, easy-to-check and not very important stops to get a merit diploma at the end. You just do not have a party with a gift when you finish a Marquez book when you get to Africa or when you go for a year at the gym. In this crazy competition, which no one ever wins, we are hurrying each other to get as far as we can, without realizing at any time that the finish line is just in our imagination.

I do not think life is about enjoying the race. I think life is about stopping you from running. To look around you and to enjoy the achievements you do not belong to.

You really live when you know that happiness does not lie in the imbalance of those around you, but in the balance inside you. When you know that happiness is not in social norms, but in your tolerance towards them.

Stop a moment from running and let the others overtake you.

Call a friend and ask him how he was on vacation without telling how much money you spent in the last one. When someone tells you that he has lost his job, ask him how you can help him find another, not what he's going to do from now on. When you hear about a relationship that will have to pass the distance test, remember that love overcomes anything, and remember those and those who have passed that test. Go to a wedding to dance up to the morning, not to check two more guests at yours. Rejoice that you were at the gym without making a reproach for those who prefer to spend the evening on a movie on the couch.

Accept the choices of those around you without comparing them with yours - you never had the same options.

Celebrate your engagement in two, because in two you will enjoy every day from now on. Praise the achievements of your friends, for they are the ones who will make your old age bear. Help your colleagues succeed, because they are the ones with whom you will team in the future. Keep your parents and brothers close, for you will be able to return to them at any time.

Choose to smile when you look in the mirror, because only then happiness is right in front of you.