Modern Day Matchmaker: How to Be Happier With or Without a Relationship

You are responsible for your own happiness.

That’s what our marriage counselor told my wife and me a few days before we jumped the broom. At the time, I didn’t get it. I thought that, as a couple, we were supposed to complete each other, and therefore make each other happy. It didn’t fully register until a few years into our marriage that no matter how well intentioned my wife or I were, we could not “change” each other. Therefore our ability to “make” each other happy was futile. Sure, I could tell a joke and make her laugh or she could surprise me with tickets to the game and light up my face with a smile but ultimately those things were not happiness, they were kind acts with kind responses.

If you are struggling with your own happiness, whether or not you’re in a relationship, the following are 14 things you must know.