small, but sure happiness
in korean there's a term, 소확행 (so-hwak-haeng), which is an abbreviation of 소소하지만 확실한 행복, which translated basically means small, but sure happiness.
or at least that's how i like to translate it.
basically it's something that's small or trivial but it for sure brings happiness into your life, like having your favorite dessert, or listening to a great new song, or seeing a dog on the street, etc.
upon doing some research, i learned that it's actually a term coined by haruki murakami (great author btw), who got it from the short story A Small, Good Thing by raymond carver.
i've never read this but maybe i will soon.
anyways, this term started being used a lot in korea a few years back and i really like it.
i used to think happiness was grand; i used to think that happiness was success, and for me, success was going to an ivy league college, getting a great job with a great salary, moving out into a nice place, and getting married to my boyfriend (parts of this idea of success originated from my parents).
and i thought that until i achieved this/these, i couldn't be happy, and there would be no point in living.
of course the purpose of life and my thoughts on it are another big topic, but to summarize, i have no idea.
i was miserable a lot growing up, suffering from depression, and so i thought that without that success, i would never be happy.
but while happiness may come with success, success isn't the only way to be happy.
of course my definition of success may need to be worked on, but it's a success.
just like how we can have many of these small moments of happiness, we can have small successes as well.
on some days, getting out of bed can be a success.
on others, our successes may be bigger, but either way, an accomplishment can be a success!
back to the original topic..
i really like the idea of these small, but sure happinesses because it helps you appreciate things more and it can help pull you out of a difficult time.
on a related note, my favorite artist (jungkook of bts) once said to his fans, "i won't blindly say to be strong but within the struggles try to look for the things that are even a little happy."
maybe it's because it came from someone i really like and respect, but it had a big impact on me and my thoughts.
it's not even that mind-blowing of a concept, but sometimes when we're having a hard time, it's really hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel as they say.
so, when i am having a hard time, i remember these words and i try to look for my small, but sure happinesses.
stepping on crunchy leaves. seeing a pretty sky. taking a good picture of the pretty sky. crawling back into bed and becoming a burrito.
and sometimes i'll just say these out loud to my boyfriend or my friends, even though they've probably heard it a million times.
"i love stepping on crunchy leaves!"
"i love bed"
the smallest of happinesses can help us realize that things aren't always terrible and the world is maybe worth living in.
i'm a big fan of the phrase "it's about the small things," and it applies here as well.
one big thing may have a big impact, but multiple small things can have just as big of an impact!
so don't forget to collect your small, but sure happinesses.
writing this post is a reminder to myself to do just that.