What makes you happy?

Author: Weiting Bollu  |   January 2023

In nearly every interview, I ask candidates "what makes you happy?

This questions catches many of them off guard. They aren't prepared to answer it because many people haven't stopped in life to think about what truly makes us happy. I challenge you to think about this and jot down some things that make you really happy. 

I think about this often on my solo walks or drives. Now, I'm going to try to articulate it to see if it changes over the next few years. 

An equal life partner

I have always told myself that I want to be self-sustaining. The line of "I'm an independent woman who don't need no man (/or partner)" is something I joked around about. In reality, it's way more rewarding to have someone to share this journey called 'life' with. 

It didn't occur to me how important having someone who is an equal is. Equality in my view is when both in the partnership can:

A strong support system

With the tech environment booming, many often ask us why we don't go to the United States to build an even better or bigger career than we have now. The connections there would be unfathomable. Canada just doesn't compare. 

To be honest, we asked ourselves that very early on upon graduation too - multiple times. 

Over the last few years, we have come to realize that there are things in life that make us really happy. To be more specific, it's the PEOPLE around us. For us, it's our parents. 

To drive a few minutes to mom's place to have a home cooked meal is happiness like no other. To see our parents engage with baby Kian with pure smiles is priceless. To have dad come over and fix our broken staircase or rebuild our exhaust fan over the weekend is just mind blowing. 

Our time with parents is finite and I want to share more memories together with them. We may be able to earn a few bucks more in another part of the world but we would be giving up a well established support system. One that gives us an unfair advantage. We are extremely privileged to have the support of family at the level we have. It's what money cannot buy.

The freedom to choose

They say money cannot buy happiness. I disagree. 

Money can buy you freedom to CHOOSE with little to no stress. 

The freedom to choose is:

All of that comes down to the fundamentals of having the privilege and the funds to have available choices for consideration. With all of this freedom, how can one NOT be happy?


Concluding Thoughts

My life is all about being a decent human being, keeping it simple, and having no regrets. I will continue to strive for my potential so I can thrive in this game of life. I'll admit, sometimes I take aspects of my life a little too seriously. At the end of the day, life is too short when those around us disappear before us. How might we make the best of it while we can?