Maybe the goal was never to be endlessly happy. Maybe that was never the finish line. Happiness comes and goes like weather — warm one minute, overcast the next. Trying to hold onto it forever is like trying to keep sunlight in your hands. It slips through no matter how tightly you try to grasp it.
But curiosity? That’s something different. Curiosity isn’t a state you chase — it’s a way you move through the world. It’s lighter, freer, less demanding. It doesn’t insist that everything be perfect. It just asks you to stay open.
There’s something beautifully human about looking at your own life and thinking, “Huh… how strange that I’m here.” Strange that you exist at all. Strange that out of all the timelines and all the possibilities, you ended up in this exact moment reading these exact words, with your own soundtrack of thoughts playing quietly in the background.
Maybe the real magic is in noticing that. In paying attention to the tiny details that usually slip past — the way someone laughs when they’re truly amused, the way your coffee smells on a sleepy morning, the sky changing shades no matter how busy your day gets. Curiosity turns ordinary moments into reminders that you’re alive, breathing, present. It’s less about the pursuit of joy and more about the act of seeing.
You don’t have to be happy all the time to live a meaningful life. You just have to stay awake to it. Keep asking questions, even the small ones. Keep wondering why something moved you. Keep being surprised that you get another chance every day to discover something new, even if it’s just a slightly better version of yourself.
Life doesn’t need to be perfect to be interesting. It just needs your attention sometimes. A little openness. A little wonder. A little curiosity about what might happen if you take one more step, or try one more time, or simply breathe and look around.
So maybe the goal isn’t endless happiness. Maybe the goal is to stay curious — to keep noticing, keep learning, keep being amazed that in a universe this vast, you get to be here at all.
Kenrick Vaz 