You're Responsible for Your Own Happiness

Writing at Essence, "Modern Day Matchmaker" Paul Carrick Brunson says you can't depend on a relationship to bring you joy โ€” but he has some other ideas that might work. Suggested Reading Steve Harvey’s Gorgeous $15 Million Once Owned by Tyler Perry Joy Reid: Fascism is Coming, Whether You Voted For it or Not Trump’s…

Writing at Essence, "Modern Day Matchmaker" Paul Carrick Brunson says you can't depend on a relationship to bring you joy โ€” but he has some other ideas that might work.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

You are responsible for your own happiness.

Thatโ€™s what our marriage counselor told my wife and me a few days before we jumped the broom. At the time, I didnโ€™t get it. I thought that, as a couple, we were supposed to complete each other, and therefore make each other happy. It didnโ€™t fully register until a few years into our marriage that no matter how well intentioned my wife or I were, we could not โ€œchangeโ€ each other. Therefore our ability to โ€œmakeโ€ 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 youโ€™re in a relationship, the following are 14 things you must know.

Read Paul Carrick Brunson's entire piece at Essence.

The Rootย aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.

Likeย The Rootย on Facebook. Follow us onย Twitter. ย ย 

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.