The Happiest Three Months of My Life

Love Story

I spent the happiest three months of my life. Every moment, from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep, was peaceful and happy. I've had many other happy moments in my life. But why were these three months, "in particular", the peak of my happiness? I calmly considered the reasons.

First, let me write down what comes to mind roughly...

1. We just got married and became truly independent! We have our own home.

2. A new start in a new place. Full of hope.

3. Palos Verdes is so beautiful.

4. Perfect weather. 23 degrees Celsius every day, a gentle breeze, warm sunshine, pleasant weather.

5. Feeling the relaxed atmosphere of American culture.

6. My husband and I have a wonderful relationship, and we deeply love each other.

7. The joy of cooking. Cooking and eating with fresh, good ingredients every day.

8. Working out with my husband three times a week.

9. Living in a peaceful neighborhood with no noise.

10. Traveling to new places every weekend.

11. We made a rule not to bring our phones into the bedroom, so we don't look at our phones before bed and read books together. (Improved sleep quality)

12. Taking a walk in the neighborhood with my husband every day.

13. I had absolutely no work-related stress.

14. A deep sense of security from marriage.

15. Drinking water every day (I didn't usually drink water, but Isaac brought me water every day)

I wrote down the thoughts that came to mind, and I've selected the most essential factors.

The first was the significant influence of the 'weather'. The weather in Palos Verdes was truly unique. By "unique," I mean that if you go more than 30 minutes from here, the weather gets significantly hotter. But here, it strangely stayed at a perfect 23 degrees Celsius. The nice weather made me feel good just by going outside. It felt like there were no annoying factors. When you're in hot and humid weather, you tend to get annoyed. If it's too cold, you'll shrink back and become edgy. The weather here was perfect, and that had a big impact on my happiness. It was like heaven. PV's weather made me marvel every day.

Along with the weather, being in beautiful and quiet 'nature' also had a big impact on my happiness. When I lived in the heart of Gangnam, I woke up to noise in the morning and felt bad. The honking sounds, the beeping sounds of the backhoe, the bustling sounds disrupted the peace of the morning. In comparison, this place was quiet. And nature was alive. It was full of trees and flowers, and I could see dolphins, squirrels, rabbits, and lizards every day. Being able to see the ocean every day was also nice. Just looking at the ocean gave me deep happiness. From my experience, quiet nature is the best. I don't want to go back to the city...!

The sense of security gained by having a partner in life is also a differentiating factor from my previous happiness. Even before, I had been in good weather and in quiet nature, but there was always a sense of 'anxiety' in the back of my mind. There was a distinct form of anxiety, but also a formless anxiety. That formless anxiety disappeared when I met my partner. Furthermore, many worldly desires also disappeared. Isn't this enough? I think. I have a loving person, we both can earn a living, so we don't have to worry about food, it's perfect? What more do I want? That feeling. Before, I struggled to be recognized by the world. Now, the only thing we need to be recognized by is ourselves and each other. All of this has given me "stable happiness."

I already had a healthy routine, but I added a few more after marrying Isaac. We made a rule to never bring our phones into the bedroom, and this had a huge impact on my happiness. Before bed, lying down and looking at Instagram or YouTube made me feel pathetic, and I went to sleep late, resulting in poor sleep quality. But when I ended the day by reading the Bible and sharing things I was grateful for, I fell asleep early and felt good. When I woke up in the morning, my mood was also good. I had a sense of ending the day well and starting another day.

Finally, 'cooking' also played a big role in my happiness. Cooking itself was happy, and the happiness of eating the food I carefully made with Isaac was huge. What I eat is me! Eating healthy made me healthy.

To summarize, the reason I was happy is that every moment was healthy. A healthy relationship with my husband, getting enough sleep, eating well and exercising regularly, a healthy mental state without greed, healthy and vibrant nature, walking every day in that nature, and so on...

I try to not just live life but to 'design' my optimal environment. Having figured out the 'factors' that have a big impact on my happiness, however small they seem, I want to design an environment that will allow me to live happily and experience happiness continuously.

To add to this, the factors I need to add to become even happier are:

1. Delete social media temporarily

2. Add more protein to my diet

3. Find a clear vision and goals and immerse myself in them

That is.

Deleting social media temporarily seems like it would be better because it hinders immersion, and adding more protein to my diet is because I love carbohydrates too much, so I think I will be healthier if I eat more protein. Finding a clear vision and goals and something to immerse myself in is the biggest problem. I gain happiness in extreme immersion, but lately I've only been immersed in cooking. I want to find a project other than cooking to "become extremely immersed" in. My biggest project is writing a book in English.

If I delete social media, eat plenty of protein, and work on the project of writing a book in English, I think my life satisfaction will be upgraded even further.

I think you need to know how to properly use 'yourself' to live a good life. What you like, what you're sensitive to, what you dislike, etc. By continuously studying 'myself,' I want to raise myself well and happily.