"I know they tell you happiness is the measure you should stand by. I know they make it seem like happiness has to be the standard to all that we do. To all that we must strive for. To all that we must feel. But then you see, sweetheart, happiness comes in a balance. Happiness comes through so many things and people and places. Happiness can be seen in the tiniest of cracks and even the deepest trenches. And here is what they don't tell you: It's okay if you don't feel that happiness right now at this very instant. It's okay to have days where you feel happiness is far from you. It's okay to take a new road to a different kind of happiness. Because maybe we hear happiness too often that it almost seems like happiness is the pedestal to feeling worthy or enough. And that's not really how it works.

Because you get to be real. You get to be honest about how you feel. You're allowed to be unapologetic of your sad days as you are of your happy ones.

You're allowed to not force happiness. But you can believe in it. You can hope for it. You can tell yourself that happiness doesn't have to be on your side for now and that's normal. Because when you're being real with your own happiness, that's how you know happiness is personal to you. That's how you know happiness always finds you again. Twice as happy as it was. Twice as bright as it shined on your own skin and bones."