THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS

 

THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS

The morning sunlight began to fill the room, slowly pushing away the darkness of the night. Before long, Elif’s alarm went off. As usual, she got ready to leave for work at the same time as every day.

When she arrived at the office, she found herself face to face with a pile of files waiting on her desk. She hoped to finish her work early today and get permission from her boss to leave. Her daughter Zeynep’s 18th birthday was approaching, and she needed time to find the perfect gift. But she still had no idea what to buy.

For a moment, she thought about the gifts she had given her daughter on previous birthdays. Zeynep already had almost everything she needed. Yet, no matter what Elif bought, her daughter’s happiness only lasted for a few hours. She remembered the previous birthday — she had bought her the latest model smartphone. When Zeynep opened the gift, her face had lit up with joy. “Thank you, mom! You made me so happy,” she had said. Hearing that, Elif had thought, “Yes, this time I got it right. I finally found the perfect gift.”

But the happiness didn’t last long. Not long after, she saw the phone thrown carelessly from the couch onto the floor. Her heart sank. Elif had been working overtime for a month just to make her daughter happy. All she ever wanted was to make sure her children never felt the same kind of emptiness she once had inside.

Her own birthdays came to mind. Her mother used to make a simple biscuit cake with a single candle on top for her and her siblings. The whole family would gather around. Sometimes there wasn’t even a gift, just the cake. Yet when Elif remembered those birthdays, a bittersweet smile would appear on her face. Those were the days she had felt truly happy.
                                          

 

Then she recalled the gift her older sister had once given her — a handmade cloth doll. When she received it, she was overjoyed. Even now, she kept that cloth doll in a special corner of her home, and every time she looked at it, her eyes sparkled with happiness.

Weeks before her own children’s birthdays, Elif would begin preparations — carefully choosing themes, decorations, and gifts to make the day special. Yet, despite all her efforts, her children never seemed truly happy. She couldn’t stop thinking: What does it really take to make someone happy?

She used to believe that as people’s means improved, their happiness would too. But looking at her own children, she realized it was quite the opposite. Why were children today more unhappy despite having so much? She remembered how joyful her own childhood had been, even with so little. Perhaps what had made her happy back then was not the abundance of things, but their very absence. Could it be that the reason she valued what she had now was because she once knew what it meant to go without?

Just then, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Are the files finished?”

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