The other day I was talking to a friend about the sad side of living away from home. I told him my sentiments. Lately my siblings are always sending me messages saying they miss me a lot. My friends are being more awesome than ever because they are always with me during my meltdowns despite the distance. They listen to my random stories and we joke on each other and they make me feel as if I never left. I loved them more when I went away. Everybody knows that my friends and family are my rock. Now that I am away from them, I feel the separation anxiety and it’s difficult for me to be happy. 

But as my friend said, there are other kinds of happiness. A fulfilling career, the joy of learning, travelling to new places, meeting new people, gaining new friends – it can bring happiness to a person. It just happened that my happiness depended on people and now that I am far from them, my focus shifted and got blurred. But yes, he’s right. I can still be happy. 

I have to find different kinds of happiness on every corner of my new life. To fill the jar of happiness with memories, new experiences, fulfillments, peace of mind, life realizations, appreciations and lessons and to take it with me wherever I go. So when it’s time for me to come back home, my happiness jar will be overflowing that I have to share it with other people.