I’ve been thinking about this thing we call happiness. With the word on tip of my tongue, I tried to figure out what the word means to me.

The new iPhone, popularity, wealth, exercise, or having a girlfriend/boyfriend are all ways people could find happiness. But none of those things are for me.

When I was younger, the biggest thing for me was I had a lot of attractive friends who were part of the popular crowd. It didn’t matter if they talked behind my back or stepped on my toes. All I cared about was my popularity.

But as I came to know these people and this way of life, it didn’t make me feel as confident about myself as I had hoped. I wasn’t happy living a life that never showed the real me.

Popularity doesn’t make you happy, even though it’s nice to be noticed once in a while. What should make you happy are the people around you.

The people who love you and would do almost anything for you, the people you just can’t live without. Real friends shouldn’t lie to each other or betray each other’s trust.

Some people claim money and shopping can make them happy. I can’t agree.

All over the world you see people married to someone because of money. You see young girls married to men as old as their father or grandfather. Their relationship isn’t love, just a way into wealth.

I’ll admit I am happy when I buy something new. It’s like a shot of adrenaline, but it always wears off.

I guess that’s why rich, miserable people shop as often as they can, to continue getting their shot of adrenaline to forget about their unhappy lives.

When I arrived in Santa Barbara, my thoughts on happiness finally paid off and I got to realize the number one thing that makes me happy in life.

I came here as a frightened international student, believing I wasn’t going to be able to manage this, that I wasn’t able to speak another language, that my year in the United States would be a total failure.

Soon I realized it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I actually did pretty well in school, teachers and students actually understood me when I spoke.

I started to make new friends and then I realized I hadn’t failed, I had succeeded. This was my number one priority in retaining my happiness.

Throwing myself out into the unknown, doing something I never thought I was capable of doing. Taking a leap even though I know I could fall.

I hope I succeed because that kind of success tastes so good. It’s almost like being in love, you get all warm and shook up inside.

I’m going to keep on challenging myself to do things even if I believe I can’t do them. I’m going to do these things to grow as a person, to face my fears and to start living life to its fullest.

That’s what happiness is, at least for me.