Thuriha Writes

Happiness... is it really as easy to experience as it sounds? Sometimes the answer is a yes. Many a time, it is a no.

Thuriha, a simple girl in her late twenties, blessed with good friends and family, woke up on a fine morning and realized that something was not right with her. She really didn't know what was wrong. She was in no mood for office that day, so she took the day off and curled up in her own comfy bed. Something made her weep, and it slowly turned into a silent cry. The worst part was she really didn't know what was making her cry. She understood she couldn't handle it alone and decided to call for help. She took out her mobile, went to her favourites, and was about to hit the call icon, but something stopped her. She thought of calling a friend, then decided against it the next second. This went on for an hour. Tired of the call-don't-call debate, she threw her mobile aside and went back to bed. She cried her heart out, and with tiredness in her eyes, a headache followed and pushed her back to sleep.

She woke up a couple of hours later and found a few missed calls, but decided to ignore them. She opened her laptop, connected to the wifi, and started watching her favourite series. After a few episodes, she realized the series wasn't lifting her mood. It only made her more miserable.

Not knowing what to do, she fidgeted with her phone, played a few games, lay down for a while, read a new novel. Nothing helped. She opened the gallery on her phone and looked at old photos, missing her happy self. Realizing that loneliness was driving her crazy, she called her friends and planned an outing for the entire day, thinking it would cheer her up. She went shopping, bought a new outfit and some accessories to go with it. As always, retail therapy did its job, and she felt a little better than she had that morning. With this small bit of happiness, she went to sleep hoping the weekend would go well.

The next day, even though everything was planned out, she felt no excitement inside her. Still, she got up and decided to go through with the plans. She got ready, wore the new outfit, and dressed herself well. She reached the theatre first, as planned, but her friends got stuck in traffic and showed up late. That annoyed her a little, so she made up for it with her favourite cold coffee and some popcorn. Next on the list was the beach, but unforeseen circumstances forced them to cancel it and head straight to dinner. Missing out on her favourite beach put her in a foul mood, and she had no interest in enjoying dinner. Seeing her unhappy, her close ones couldn't enjoy the evening either. The day she had hoped would make her happy failed, and she went right back into her shell. She ended up hating herself even more, thinking she was making everyone around her unhappy with her moods.

As days turned into months, she kept planning for happiness, but something always went wrong, and she ended up feeling more depressed. Slowly, she started to enjoy her loneliness, to the point where nothing could pull her out of it. Then, one evening, a friend stopped by her apartment, dragged her out, and took her for a drive. When they reached their usual hangout spot, she was surprised to find a few close ones waiting for her on a busy weekday. Something good stirred in her. After a little hesitation, she spoke, laughed, cried, giggled, gossiped, and thoroughly enjoyed the evening. On the way home, she took the longer route, stopped by the beach, walked on the wet sand, and let the waves touch her feet. When she felt fully at peace, she headed home, grabbed an ice cream, and replayed the evening in her head.

She finally understood that happiness can never be felt when it's planned. External things, people, situations, possessions, can't hand it to you either. It can only be found within yourself.