Happiness
Happiness is a stuffy Saturday afternoon
Driving around in a Nissan X-terra with nowhere to be—
Beyoncé and Miguel songs blaring in my ears,
Caramel wisps of hair blowing in my face.

Happiness is a long Friday night with my crazy friends
Laying in the middle of the cold streets under the dazzling lights of the city—
Head rolled back,
Mouth open wide,
Laughs escaping freely.

Happiness is an endless day illuminated by a summer sun,
Spritzing banana-infused oil on my sweaty legs—
The turquoise waters hugging at my sides,
The ice-cold lemonade trickling down my taste buds.

Happiness is a frigid high school football game,
Bundled up in a fuzzy, white Patagonia,
Clinging to a cup of scorching hot chocolate,
Drooling over the blue-eyed star quarterback
As he easily steals the soaring football,
Along with the hopeless heart of every girl in the stands.

Happiness is a family dinner long into overtime,
Condescendingly gossiping about the latest student drama,
Exaggeratingly mocking ridiculous high school teachers—
All with the complete freedom to be myself.

Happiness is an A on a test I was sure I had failed.
It’s the first bite into a warm, Krispy Kreme doughnut.
It’s the feeling inside when he looks at me.
Happiness is knowing that there is A Hope that never disappoints.
A Love that never fails.

Happiness is the humbling realization
That even on rainy, gloomy Monday afternoons,
Beauty can be found in the simplest of moments:

The way one’s face lights up when delighting in his/her passion.
The teardrop of emotion after discovering a self-freeing revelation.
The unique beauty in a bitterly gray December day,
found only in exceptionally special moments.
Happiness is when we come across something-
A setting, a person, a moment in our lives-
When we find these words to ring true:
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”