No matter who you are or where you come from, joy can be a difficult value to find. Why is it so difficult? Maybe it’s because it is easier to feel emotion as it is raw and instinctual, then it is to let the good outweigh the bad. For when horrid instances occur, they linger. But when great moments happen, they thrive for only a short while before the feeling fades away.

Let’s cry fowl to the overly-stated, “Is your glass half-empty or half-full?” phrase. You know why? Because it doesn’t matter how much water there is, I’m still going to drink from the cup. I have a thirst for life that must be quenched, so if there is a glass, I’ll accept even one drop for the momentary relief it will bless my parched throat with.

But that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? That, no matter how great our strife, we as human beings still live for these moments of bliss. I mean, what is the point of living unhappily? Life is given to us, but happiness is something we have to give ourselves.

So again, I’ll ask: Why can finding joy be so difficult?

Because we think it is.

For a really long time, I was searching for happiness. At times however, my joy was escape from reality. I believed that a favorite show, an entrancing read, or even sleep could cure me of the lively satisfaction I sought to discover. But because of this unending exploration, I missed out on a great deal of things trying to find something I’ve always had.

Joy is within us. It is not something you find, just as many of life’s values feign to appear. No, it is something you feel. It is something you create. It is joy, and it is not lost; you just have to reflect on where it has always been.

For me, joy is seeing my friends smile because of something I said. It is hot fudge dripping from a moist chocolate cake, or the perfume of fresh roses sitting delicately in a vase. It is the pearlescent glow of a stranger’s beam as I bid them well, or my mother’s melodic laugh resounding throughout the house. It is the thrill of buying something new, or the relief of sitting down after an exhausting day.

It’s the simplest things that bring us the most joy; it also the simplest things that can be easily overlooked.

Now, I’ve learned not to fret over that which threatens to raise my fear. Instead, I simply look forward to refilling my glass and cherishing every little thing until the last drop.

-Kiran Bains Sahota