If you put material things first for your happiness, I honestly think you'll keep chasing forever.

We all do this. I do this too.

"I'll be happy when I buy a big house."
"I'll be happy when I earn one crore per year."
"I'll be happy when I finally achieve that thing."

It's always when. Never now.

Yesterday changed something

Yesterday I saw a video of a student who died of a heart attack in class.

Young. Sitting with friends. Normal day. Laughing probably. And then — gone.

No warning. No second chance. No "let me finish my plans first."

I sat with that for a while.

We genuinely don't know what tomorrow looks like. We say we know, but we don't. We just assume.

And yet we keep postponing happiness like it's a reward we'll unlock after we succeed.

Growing up changes how you see money

I grew up in a small village in a lower middle-class family. I watched people wake up before sunrise, travel long distances for work, clean houses, drive auto-rickshaws, work in the fields — whatever they could find to get through another month.

When you've seen that up close, money means something different. It's not a number on a screen. It's food on the table, school fees, rent, the comfort of knowing your family will be okay for another month.

So I get why we tie happiness to financial milestones. I really do.

But I've also noticed something in myself: every time I hit a number I thought would make me happy, the goalpost moved. The house got bigger in my head. The income target went up. The "when" kept shifting.

Happiness wasn't waiting at the finish line. It was waiting for me to stop running past it.

What I'm trying to do differently

I can't wait until I buy a house to be happy.
I can't wait until I hit a certain income number.

Not because I don't want those things. I do. But because tomorrow isn't guaranteed. And if I keep deferring joy, I might never actually live.

The only thing I truly control is today.

If you're alive right now — that itself is kind of a miracle when you think about it.

So I'm trying to spend more time on things I genuinely love. Calling my parents without needing a reason. Going for walks without treating them as "productive." Starting ideas even when they feel half-baked. Laughing without needing an excuse.

Small things. But they add up.

Don't outsource your happiness

One more thing I've learned the hard way:

Never depend on another person for your happiness.

"If she says yes, I'll be happy."
"If he accepts me, I'll be happy."

Who are they to decide your emotional state?

Love is beautiful. Success is beautiful. Money is useful — especially when you've seen what it's like without enough of it.

But none of them should become the condition for your happiness.

Happiness isn't a milestone. It's not a destination. It's not something you earn after you cross a line.

It's a way of living — right now.

You don't earn it. You practice it. Bad days included.

This is how I see it right now, and I might be wrong about all of it. But I'd rather be wrong and actually living than right and always waiting for someday.