Happiness is...

My Top 10 (in no particular order):

• Licking a curly cone, then kissing your sweetheart with sticky lips
• Sharing a bubble bath and getting the end without the tap. Extra points if you get to hoard the bubbles!
• He starts ranting about the absurd number of scatter cushions, but somehow, the night ends in an all-out, feather-flying pillow war. (Spoiler Alert: You win.)
• Your phone pings: One text, no words, just ;-) followed by :p and a ? - which you translate to mean, "Prepare for mischief."
• Waking up to hot coffee and an even hotter cuddle. (Congratulations, you’ve won the morning jackpot.)
• The smell of Italian food hitting you the second you step through the door. Who cares if it’s just takeout? Love is knowing your carb needs before you do.
• Hearing "I love you" in French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic… because if love was measured in languages, you’d be a billionaire.
• Speaking in single syllables: “You! Me! Now!”... a universal call to adventure, or at the very least, snacks.
• Not speaking at all, yet understanding each other perfectly. Mind reading? No, just emotional telepathy developed over countless inside jokes.
• Knowing what you have and actually appreciating it, because as it turns out, gratitude is the real aphrodisiac.

It doesn't take much, does it? 

Except… when it does.
Because here’s the kicker: if these tiny, stupidly delightful moments disappear, you don’t need Sherlock Holmes to tell you something is seriously off. If your days feel less like a rom-com and more like an unending psychological thriller, it might be time to hit pause and reassess.

When "Happily Ever After" Gets a Plot Twist

A relationship doesn’t implode in one dramatic explosion, it erodes, grain by grain, moment by moment. And often, it’s not the relationship that’s broken; it’s the people inside it, dragging their unprocessed baggage behind them like emotional hoarders. You, me, all of us, carriers of childhood wounds, failed expectations, and the deep-seated belief that our partner should "just know" what we need without us having to say a word. (News flash: They don’t. They’re human, not a mind-reading octopus.)

And so, if you won’t willingly address your emotional baggage, the universe will get creative. First, it’ll throw pebbles (a minor disagreement). Then stones (a passive-aggressive silence). Then boulders (a full-blown screaming match over the dishwasher). And finally, an entire mountain of existential despair until you finally, FINALLY, sit down and do the work.

What work?

Facing the stuff you’ve been conveniently sweeping under the rug for years. Owning your dysfunctions (yes, even the adorable ones that make you “quirky”).
Acknowledging that avoidance, people-pleasing, doomscrolling, and stress-eating aren’t legitimate coping strategies.

For many, just admitting that their past has shaped their present is a revelation. Accepting it? That’s freedom. Forgiving it? That’s liberation. And once you do that, you can finally start showing up as a whole, healed version of yourself, one that doesn’t need to weaponize silent treatment or interpret an unanswered text as a declaration of war, or willfully  terrorising your partner out of fear masked as anger...

Phew, what happened to the post about happiness?

No, wait...don't go, there is hope.

If you're brave enough.

If there are no other alternatives.

If stepping up is letting go of the past's hold on your future.

And afterwards, I promise, happiness will be there waiting for you! It is already there with a tight hold on your heart ready to be discovered.

Happiness is... (The Revised list):

• Licking a curly cone, knowing that your self-worth doesn’t depend on someone else licking one with you.
• Taking a bubble bath alone because you actually enjoy your own company now.
• Seeing scatter cushions and knowing they’re not relationship landmines but simply… cushions.
• Getting a text and not overanalyzing the punctuation, because your anxiety no longer has the steering wheel.
• Waking up to hot coffee that you made for yourself because self-love includes caffeine.
• The smell of Italian food reminding you that joy isn’t dependent on another person’s presence.
• Saying "I love you" to yourself in every language, including the hardest one: the voice inside your head.
• Speaking in single syllables: "Me. Now." Because prioritizing yourself isn’t selfish, it’s survival.
• Sitting in silence and finally being at peace with it.
• Knowing what you have, even if it’s just yourself, and realizing that’s enough.

Because in the end, happiness isn’t about grand gestures, perfect relationships, or a constant stream of feel-good moments. It’s about being whole enough to enjoy the little things, whether or not someone else is there to share them with you.