How I Stopped Waiting for the Future to Be Happy
How often do you let cultural expectations or “someday thinking” tell you that happiness is always in the future – after the degrees, the career milestones, the family? For years, I believed exactly that. I had myself convinced that once I got there, life would finally start.
But what I’ve learned is that waiting for happiness only leaves us disconnected in the present. This blog is where I begin sharing my journey into intentional living, starting with the lesson that happiness isn’t something we wait for. It’s something we create with intention every single day.
The Childhood Wisdom
Ever since I was a kid, from time to time I’d randomly be asked: “What’s the point of life?”
My answer would always come quickly: “To be happy.”
I felt so proud of that answer. Wise, even. And when someone asked “By doing what?”, I’d shrug and say: “By doing whatever makes me happy.”
Simple enough…right..?
It took me many, many years to realize just how much I had oversimplified it. Happiness doesn’t just appear out of thin air. It’s something we have to intentionally create. And for a long time, I wasn’t doing that at all.
The Trap of Someday Thinking
After finishing graduate school, I entered the real world. I was ambitious, eager, and ready to check off every milestone on a rushed timeline. But little by little, I stopped listening to myself.
I chased promotions, pursued an MBA I didn’t even truly want, fulfilled social obligations, and measured my worth by accomplishments. From the outside, I was thriving. Inside, I felt detached, like I was letting my twenties slip away, waiting for my real life to begin someday.
How to Structure Joy into the Present: Stop Waiting for Happiness
For years, I convinced myself that my dream life with family, balance, and fulfillment would start later. Once I had kids. Once I saved enough. Once I finally got there.
But somewhere along the way, I realized I was postponing happiness. I was structuring everything around a future that didn’t exist yet, instead of building joy into the present.
Recently, I’ve learned to ask myself what’s one small choice today that aligns with my values and brings joy right now? Whether it’s reading a book, cooking a meal I love, or just stepping outside for a walk, there’s no wrong answer.
Intentional Living: 3 Questions to Create Happiness Every Day
Intentional living is about choosing how we spend our time, energy, and attention in ways that align with our values.
It’s about slowing down enough to ask:
- Am I doing this for me, or for someone else’s approval?
- Does saying yes to this mean saying no to myself?
- Does this path actually feel like mine?
It’s not about being selfish. It’s about being self-aware.
Because when we live intentionally, we stop outsourcing happiness to the future and start building it where we stand.
So…Why This Blog?
Because writing brings me joy.
Because sharing stories that might help others brings me joy.
Because, like many of you, I’ve lived a life shaped more by expectations than by intention.
This blog is my way of reclaiming intentional living as a South Asian in my generation – a blend of Millennial and Gen Z voices – practicing what I believed as a child (that life’s purpose is happiness), but with grown-up wisdom: happiness comes from conscious choices, not from waiting on someday.
The South Asian Twist: Redefining Happiness Beyond Expectations
Being South Asian adds another layer. Many of us were taught to value education, stability, and family duty above all else. It’s easy to lose sight of our own voice when so much is shaped by expectations.
But I believe we can carry forward what’s meaningful from our traditions while also redefining what happiness looks like, not just for our parents or our community, but for ourselves.
Final Thoughts: Why Happiness Isn’t Later, It’s Now
When I was a kid, I thought life’s purpose was happiness. I still believe that.
The only difference now?
I know happiness isn’t waiting for me in the future.
It’s something I can create every day by living with intention.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re living for others…
If you’ve ever wondered whether this is really the life you want…
If you’re ready to pause, reflect, and choose differently…
Then I hope you’ll stick around.
We may only get one life — let’s make it feel like ours.
Because happiness isn’t later.
It’s now.
Check out my journey toward reclaiming my voice and redefining success on my own terms! 💌 Subscribe below for weekly intentional living updates + my FREE 7-Day Intentional Living Workbook – daily steps to align your time, energy, and choices with what truly matters, so you can start creating happiness today!
For anyone looking to dig deeper into escaping the trap of someday thinking, I highly recommend Steven Hayes’ The Happiness Trap for practical strategies to create happiness now.
