What is happiness?

I just watched this video and felt the need to share. This child named Logan is eloquent and is only 13 years old. His parents pulled him from the traditional school system to pursue an alternative kind of education: homeschooling.  Logan talks about the pursuit of happiness and how it is affecting his education. He studies the 3 R's - reading, writing, and arithmetic - and the rest of his curriculum is focused on being happy and healthy.

Now I want to talk about why this is important. I was also asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?". My answer was always "a transplant surgeon," mainly because I believed that financial success equates to happiness. I worked very hard through my studies to enter the medical field. This child is 13 years old and I am 10 years his senior. I am only realizing now what he has realized at his young age. 

The entirety of my college career was to 'find myself,' and find myself I did. I am now headed in a different direction than being a surgeon and I am much happier for it. I began to enjoy my classes for their content and not only study the materials for an 'A', so I can be competitive against the hundreds, if not thousands, of med school applications. I saw myself as a number and some nights I would cry before a big exam because I could not remember the structural formula or the molar mass  for Ethanol (that is an example, I remember it... still, 3 years later.) 

In case you were wondering

I am now headed now a different path,  one I should have been from the beginning. Although I am not alone because I have plenty of friends who did not figure out what they wanted to pursue until their senior year. 

For the first time in a long time, I am happy to learn instead of being stressed about a grade, because it is what I love. I am not going to tell you right now what I wish to pursue as a career. Just know that I am headed in the right direction now.

-Peace and Aloha y'all