Ingredients: A Pinch of Friendliness, A Bit of Thought, and an Ounce of Care

Happiness is such a simple, yet complex subject. The way it comes about, and the extent of the emotion varies from person to person. For some, a true miracle has to occur in order to feel the slightest change in emotion. For others, the smallest actions can bring enough pleasure to drastically improve their moods.

I for one, am someone who enjoys the simpler pleasures in life. I like being happy, simple as that. For that reason, I like to bring the people around me happiness as well. If I like the feeling so much, why not share it with others? With that mindset, I'm basically a psychiatrist to many, always providing advice and listening to situations. The other day someone told me that I get too caught up in other people's problems, waste too much time mending others' lives, and need to live for myself. They also mentioned that others don't appreciate my time and effort spent, so why should I bother? After dwelling on the idea a bit, I realized that although I spend a lot of time helping others' lives, it brings me happiness to know that I made a difference. Regardless of how long I spent helping someone, I don't see it as a waste. Rather, I feel satisfaction knowing that within two hours, someone I care about went from crying to laughing. And although I may be putting in more effort than I get credited for, I don't really care. Because I'm not helping to earn some type of reward or a trophy for being a good friend. That's not the purpose. I know if I had something wrong in my life, I would want someone I could talk to and fall back on. Someone that I know was reliable and actually cared. So in turn, I try to do the same for others. Whether I'm your best friend or not, I'm here and will care just as much. I want it to be apparent that I truly want to help. The reason is, I really believe in the quote that most of the time, people “...won’t remember what you said, and they won’t remember what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou.

I still remember when I first met a friend two years ago. I had never talked to this girl before, and didn't know much about her. However one Friday after school, a bunch of friends from school went down to a Moe's nearby to eat, and then to the park across the street to hang out. Since me and this girl had a mutual friend, we talked a bit. Towards then end, there weren't many of us left. As my ride pulled up, I said goodbye to my friends, and smiled towards her, since I didn't know her well enough to lean in for a hug. As I turned around to walk into the car, I heard her call me from behind. I turned around, and she said "It was really nice having a chance to finally meet you." It was a simple phrase, but I could feel the sincerity in her voice. I could feel that she wasn't saying it to just be nice. She truly meant it. And for some reason, I still can clearly recall exactly how I felt when that complete stranger said those words that provided me with a sense of comfort and trust. Those simple words made me feel, well, happy. And from that moment on, I decided I wanted to be like that to others.

I truly believe that one of the best feelings in the world is to make someone else feel happy. God wants us all to be happy and live life to its fullest potential. By making someone else feel happy, you're improving their lives and helping them live it up. And it honestly doesn't take much. All it takes, is a little consideration. One morning, I came downstairs to get myself a bit of breakfast. As scanned the fridge, I noticed my grandma just sitting on the couch looking out the window. I knew she often neglected to eat breakfast unless she was coaxed into it. I knew that on the days she did eat, her breakfasts consisted of tea and some cookies. Usually, I would've just gotten a bowl of cereal and gone back upstairs to get some work done. However on this morning, I decided to ask her if she had eaten breakfast, and as expected, she said no. I told her I was making some tea, and asked her if she would have some with me. She agreed, so I set to work making tea and toast, and setting out cookies and biscuits. We sat down to eat, and ended up talking for an hour. I knew that the more I talked, the less time I would have to get the things done that I needed to, which would lead me to stressing out later. However, I couldn't get myself to leave. I could see the happiness that brightened her face, just from my presence and the small conversation we were having. A little while later when I went back downstairs, I heard her on the phone talking to a friend, saying "Yeah this morning, my Sehar made ME tea, and we sat down and talked. She's my girl." Just the way she said it, her voice so upbeat and proud, made me realize that with little effort, I had genuinely made her so happy.

As I've been saying, it's so easy to brighten up someone's day. A simple smile while passing by could do the trick. Just a simple "Hey how's your day going?" can show someone you're there for them. It just goes to show that it doesn't take much more than a pinch of friendliness, a bit of thought, and an ounce of care to really improve someone's day.