I’ve been told that happiness lives in a castle.

For years and years I have roamed the universe looking for it.

I asked every single person that I’ve met if they know the address or at least the way.

But no one did. I met a few who were looking for it as well, but they gave up on that quest a long time ago.

At times, I thought that castle was a metaphor or an illusion. Hence, I started looking for it in every person I encountered, every event I went to and every corner of the world.

But it didn’t feel like happiness. People who have been there described it differently.

That castle seemed elusive. It appeared to me that I will never find it.

Feeble and wan, I stopped searching. I succumbed to life’s greatest agonies and looked for my way back home in all the wrong places.

With bare feet and a tear rolling down my cheek, I spotted a ladder made of wood. Startled, I finally noticed the castle that I’ve been looking for my whole life.

With slow paces, I climbed its stairs and reached for its door. As I approached, I came to notice that the door was closed.

In other years, I would have lingered in my place because I thoroughly believed I would never enter this castle and that happiness was unattainable.

But on this day, I had enough.

I had enough of agony, fatigue, and waiting.

I stood in front of that door and kicked it in. To my surprise, the door wasn’t locked.

It was only closed.

I entered and it was the most beautiful castle that I had seen in my entire life. That castle was worth the wait, the pain and my determination.

It was exactly like what I’d heard about it. It was peaceful and empty. No matter how many storms had taken place outside, that castle remained intact.

No wind, no rain and no tornado could let it move.

Roaming between its rooms and walls, I realized that when we stop looking for happiness, we will find it. The castle will beautifully appear on a white, fluffy cloud.

Events, circumstances and situations represent the closed door. We succumb to sadness whenever something goes awry because we clearly see that the door is closed.

We sit on the steps of the ladder for years and years wondering how to break through the castle’s doors.

But the door to happiness isn’t locked.

When we have had enough of the absurd pain, we have the choice to open that door and meet happiness face-to-face.

Happiness isn’t elusive. It’s like oxygen. It is present everywhere on earth and we have to breathe it in in order to live.

To live with happiness we must choose it. We must not need it, want it or crave for it.

It all comes down to one single decision: I choose to open the door of the castle.

I choose happiness.

To choose it, however, we must be in a state where we have truly had enough of the pain. It’s a state where we realize that pain and sadness are only an illusion that keep us away from attaining peace.

When we really stagnate our painful days, the ladder made of wood will appear.

Climb it. Reach for that door.

Don’t flinch if it’s closed.

Open it and stay inside.

Never leave.

Because you deserve to live in that castle.

~

Relephant:

The Fewer Things we Own, the Happier we Are.

~

Author: Elyane Youssef

Editor: Caitlin Oriel

Image: Tareck Raffoul