“Personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications are not your life.”  –J. K. Rowling

“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee

My fellow seniors,

Please recall the video our teacher Mr. Brown showed us about Jason Brown, the St. Louis Rams NFL player that gave up all his fame and fortune to become a farmer and instead live a life of service to those in need.

This video helped me realize the real significance of happiness and how I could personally achieve it. I pondered the goals I’d had since a very young age, and finally recognized that achieving them would not make me truly happy. I got lost somewhere along the way in the process of trying to reach them, yet didn’t backtrack because I kept thinking of how far I’d come, how much I had already sacrificed to stay on this one path. I kept telling myself to keep going, even when I didn’t truly think about why I wanted to in the first place. I had so much support from family and friends in getting to this point in my life that I felt like it was expected of me to keep going with what I’d always done.

But you know what? Dreams change. And that’s ok, because only you know what really makes you happy. Not your past or future self, but you, yourself, right now in the present. Achieving lifelong goals may bring happiness eventually, but if you’re not happy in the process of reaching them, what are you really doing?

This video brought out an epiphany within me that made me realize how I can be truly happy. I need to love what I do and spread that love with others on a daily basis. And that way, I no longer need to think about what will make me happy in the future, and instead can focus on growing and sharing my present happiness.

I hope you realize that you can find happiness if you have the courage to look for it. Thank you for your time.

Good luck on your quest!

Edgar Gilliam

Instructions: Please fill out the chart below with various characteristics about your life that you are either happy with or wish to change. They can be things such as your personality traits, friendships, daily occurrences, habits, desires, etc. Once you have filled it out thoroughly, please analyze each entry on the change side of the chart and determine if it is possible to start changing your life for the better. If so, please take action.

Things I’m Happy With	Things I Wish To Change