One thing I realized about happiness is that our own expectations and definitions change over time. When I was a kid, happiness meant being able to watch an episode of my favorite cartoon series, a cone of ice cream, acquiring scented stationery and Hello Kitty stickers,  receiving a canister of Pringles from Daddy, a Jollibee spaghetti; those simple things are more than enough to make me happy. 

When I went to school and found my own circle of friends, I wasn't aware that my definition of happiness changed and expanded. Happiness meant receiving good grades, submitting projects on time, sharing crush stories with friends, being finally allowed to go out with friends, counting saved pennies after a school year and being able to buy that dream bag equate to happiness. 

When I started working, my conditions for happiness increased and became more complicated. Happiness meant submitting expected output on time, receiving performance incentive, promotion, paid insurance premiums and bills, a fat savings account, shopping and night out with friends, a blooming love life, opportunity to travel abroad, maintaining the ideal weight and BMI, and I'm sure these requisites will continuously grow every year. 

The peculiar behavior of happiness was something my years of education never taught me. I have to learn the growing complexity of happiness as I age and venture in different things. There were days when I envy kids because they are spared from the complications of life. They are contended with simple things that life has to offer.

Though I often get exhausted with all those concerns, there are days when I found myself in bliss over priceless things. Words of appreciation from the boss, a text message from a long lost friend, receiving comments in my blog posts, an additional follower and more importantly, a new friend in the blogosphere.

When I started blogging, my only intention was to express myself through writing and possibly open the opportunity to earn money. More than my passion to write and earn, I realized that there are more priceless things that blogging offers. I never thought I would gain a family of friends in the vast world of the blogosphere. This alone is something I never realized is enough to make me happy. 

And speaking of friends in the blogosphere, today marks a memorable day in my seven months of blogging because I received my first gift from a fellow blogger 

Bird's Nest Necklace
A bird's necklace personally made by a fellow Filipina blogger named Janelle. 

Janelle of Of Pinks and Fairytales specializes in upcycling and transformation of clothes, accessories and home decors. I suggest you visit her site and explore her great artworks.

Thank you Janelle! This necklace would remind me that blogging meant more than placing my thoughts in writing. I have embarked myself to a world that counts endless opportunities of friendship and simple things that are enough to make me happy.