By Carolina Amore
Personal Experiences
Carolina Amore
Sunday mornings are what I like to call my slice of heaven. The world seems quiet, and you awaken to a world feeling of something I can only describe as home. Sunday mornings are my favorite time of the week. They were my favorite part of my childhood.
Growing up in an Italian household, the end of the week meant two things: a sauce was simmering, and a football game was on the television.
As a young girl, I would wake up to the radiant smell of a tomato sauce cooking in the kitchen. While walking down the stairs, the fumes would wash over me, as well as the sound of a football game coming from the living room.
I remember this time fondly; a time of peace and wonder with none of the worries that I now bear as an adult.
Can you think back to a time of such bliss? A moment in your life where the world just made sense? I believe it is crucial to remember and appreciate memories or moments where you may have felt understood, loved or content.
Whether that time was 10 years ago or last week, recalling those memories is how we think of ourselves in our happiest moments.
Happiness comes and goes. Maintaining it is a choice you must make each day. Remembering happy moments is an exercise in understanding that emotions are fleeting, but a state of peace or contentment is a decision.
My happiest moment is rooted in traditions on Sundays. I carry those traditions to re-explore that happiness and exercise it in my daily living in my present life.
Connecting to a past self through a positive memory is an example of how happiness is subjective. It relies on the event, the person and a combination of the senses.
Walking by the beach and seeing the light hit the waves a certain way, at a particular time, you are suddenly brought back to a memory that radiates joy. That feeling was triggered by something happening in the present and lasted only a short while. That is what happiness should be like.
Society today makes people feel that if they are not constantly happy, they are doing something wrong. The goal should not be constant happiness; it should be peace within oneself.
Strive for peace, for self-love. Those are states of being rather than moments of feeling. Happiness is a beautiful feeling that everyone deserves to experience, but self-love and peace of mind are states of being that should be worked towards.
Enjoy your cherished memories, bask in your long-lived traditions, remember that happiness is a fleeting moment that will always return and try each day to live a life that welcomes the possibility of inner peace.