The only keeper of your happiness is you. Stop giving other people power to control your smile, your attitude, and your worth. Never hand the keys to your happiness to someone else. Live life on your terms, doing what you love, and seeking out challenges and experiences that enrich your soul. No one knows your dreams, goals, and fears better than you do. No other person is there for you like you are -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No one has gone through the very ordeals you've confronted. To give others control over your emotions is to sign away your right to be happy. It puts you at the mercy of others who may not always have your best interests at heart -- people who might leave your life at any given moment. Sharing your happiness with the people you love is one thing. Depending on them to be happy is another. When you place your happiness in the hands of others, you expect them to think and act as you would. You anticipate that they will always be there...

If you lose someone, but find yourself in the process, guess what? You've won. Maybe it's an ex who walked away because they found you too unexciting or conventional for them. Perhaps it's a friend who stopped responding to your messages once they realized they couldn't control you or get you to validate their every decision. You've likely been in this boat at some point or another. At first, seeing the relationship go down the tubes hits us hard, and we may be apt to blame ourselves. But gradually, we come to realize that it didn't work out for a reason, and rather than inducing sadness in us, that fact brings us a great sense of comfort and relief. It reinforces something that we knew all along, but perhaps never contemplated too deeply: If we try to think or behave like others just to gain their approval, we are essentially selling ourselves out, handing them our self-identity in a bag. Sadly, I've spoken to people who will suppress what m...

When you ask people what happiness means to them, most will respond with platitudes like "having a lot of money" or "being loved." To me, though, the real meaning of happiness runs a whole lot deeper. And if there ever was a definition of the word that captures the true essence of happiness, it would have to be the one below, which I found via a Facebook page a couple of days ago: "Happiness is letting go of what you think your life is supposed to look like and celebrating it for everything that it is." The first part of that sentence -- "what you think your life is supposed to look like" -- is simply another way of saying "social pressure." Many of us think that if we don't live up to societal expectations -- getting married, buying a house, having kids, landing a high-powered job -- we've failed ourselves and our loved ones. We're constantly comparing ourselves to friends, relatives, neighbors, and coworkers, ...

So many of us have a tendency to base our decisions around those of others. We buy a certain car because our neighbor just bought a similar one. We suddenly feel the urge to have a child because all our friends are having kids. Our coworker gets a promotion and all of the sudden, we want one. Even though we don't drink or eat sushi, everyone in our book club does, so we feel pressured to follow suit. Unfortunately, many us fall victim to the herd mentality. We'll do almost anything not to stand apart from our fellow peers in any way. We hate the thought of being ostracized or left out, so we try to shadow their behavior -- in everything from the clothes they wear to the products they buy. I'm of the belief that embracing your uniqueness is the key to self-fulfillment. People will always try to impose their beliefs and attitudes on you so you can think and act like them. Why? Because it validates the decisions they've made. If you opt to go down a different pat...