Mit diesen drei wundervollen jungen Frauen begann das Glücksprojekt. Ihr positives Feedback und ihre Spontanität an diesem Projekt teilzunehmen haben mich motiviert den Anfang zu wagen. Drei Mädels, die voller Lebensfreude sind und allein schon mit ihrer Anwesenheit verzaubern. Ich werde nie vergessen, wie ich den ganzen Sommer über, immer wieder an sie gedacht habe und wusste: Wären sie nicht gewesen, hätte ich vielleicht noch viel mehr Zeit gebraucht um endlich zu starten. Hiermit will ich danke sagen, danke, dass ihr mit mir gemeinsam dieses Projekt gestartet habt und genau vier Monate nach dem kleinen Fotoshooting nun endlich eure Geschichten geteilt werden können – auf ein baldiges Wiedersehen meine spanischen Chicas! – JH
My happiness project started with these three wonderful young women. Their positive feedback and spontaneous participation in the project motivated me to dare to even start something like this. These three girls, so full of vitality, can enchant anyone with just their presence. I will never forget how throughout the entire summer I would think about them and knew that if they hadn’t been a part of it, it might have taken me substantially more time to finally start this project. With this, I just want to say thank you, thank you for starting this project together with me, and now, exactly four months after photo shooting, we can finally share your stories – to a speedy reunion with my Spanish Chicas. – JH
Wir studierten zwei besondere und viel zu kurze Jahre in Madrid zusammen. Selten habe ich so einen herzlichen Menschen wie sie getroffen. Ich bewunderte sie für ihre ehrliche und authentische Art. Eine Person, die immer auf der Suche nach mehr und offen für Neues ist. Sie war immer sehr aufmerksam und betonte mir gegenüber meine positiven Eigenschaften und zauberte mir so oft in den graueren Phasen des Lernalltags ein Grinsen ins Gesicht. Lasst sie uns ein Beispiel sein und das Positive im Mitmenschen sehen und ihnen das auch zu sagen.
We studied together for two special, and way too short, years in Madrid. It seemed quite random to meet such a heartfelt person as her, and I admire her for her honest and authentic way of being. She is a person who is always looking for more and open to new things. She was very attentive and always emphasized my positive characteristics, so she often put a smile on my face during the greyer times of my day-to-day studies. Let us use her as an example of someone who always sees the positive things in surrounding people and someone who also vocalizes those thoughts to them.
Generalmente cuanto más fácil es la pregunta más difícil es contestarla.
Ante todo la felicidad no tiene una única definición sino una infinidad ya que dependerá de cómo la perciba cada persona. Para mí la felicidad consiste en poder disfrutar del presente sin estar atormentado por el pasado o preocupado por el futuro. Así pues, resulta imprescindible el ser capaz de disfrutar de cada instante así como de los pequeños detalles del día a día, por muy insignificantes que parezcan. Sólo así se logran aprovechar las oportunidades que nos brinda la vida en lugar de dejarlas escapar continuamente y arrepentirse por ello.
Me gustaría hacer mención a una cita de Christopher McCandless: «La felicidad sólo es real cuando es compartida.» Esto implica que para ser feliz es necesario poder compartir ese sentimiento con las personas que uno más quiere, ya sean estos familiares o amigos. Es gracias a ellos que uno puede sobrellevar cualquier dificultad y superar cualquier límite. Por último, me gustaría destacar que la felicidad es interior y no exterior ya que depende de quienes somos y no del valor de lo que tenemos. De ahí que de igual la riqueza que uno pueda llegar a acumular porque ninguna cantidad podrá comprar nunca algo tan valioso como es la felicidad.
María José Delgado Martín
In general, the easier the question, the more difficult it is to answer.
First of all, happiness does not have one single definition, but rather an infinity of definitions since it depends on each person’s perception. For me, happiness entails being able to enjoy the present without being haunted by the past or worried about the future. Thus it is essential to be able to enjoy every moment and all the little details in daily life, despite how very insignificant as they may appear. This is the only way we can take advantage of all the opportunities that life grants us, instead of feeling the regret that comes when we let those opportunities pass us by.
I would like to mention a quote by Christopher McCandless: “Happiness is only real when it is shared.” This indicates that in order to be happy, it is necessary to share this feeling with the people you love the most, whether they be family or friends. It’s thanks to them that we can survive every difficulty and outrun every limit. Lastly, I would like to point out that happiness is an inner and not an outer status, because it depends on who we are and not on the value of everything we own. That is why the wealth someone reaches never will be able to buy anything as valuable as happiness.
María José Delgado Martín
Ihren Glückstext erhielt ich als einen der ersten und als ich ihn zum ersten Mal las, kamen mir kurz die Tränen. In diesem Moment wusste ich, dass ich das Richtige tat und ich mehr Geschichten für die Menschen sammeln sollte. Ich wünschte, dass auch andere Menschen an diesen wundervollen Worten teilhaben können. Rocio, ein grundpositiver Mensch, der ihr Umfeld um sich herum bewusst wahrnimmt. Nach diesem Sommer lebt sie wieder in Madrid und ist in ihren ersten Job gestartet, ich wünsche ihr von Herzen das Beste.
I received her happiness story as one of the first and when I read it for the first time, I could not help but shed some tears. During that moment I knew I had done the right thing and that I should gather more stories for people. I wished that others could read these wonderful words. Rocio is a very positive person who conciously perceives her environment. After this past summer she moved back to Madrid where she started her first job, and I just wish her the best from the bottom of my heart.
En un día como hoy me haría feliz tumbarme al sol escuchando Oasis y Coldplay, recibir la llamada inesperada de un amigo de verdad para hablar de todo y de nada, tomarme un helado artesano de pistacho viendo el mar, leer curiosidades y pensar que soy un poco más lista, descubrir una ciudad nueva perdiéndome y volviendo a encontrarme, tener una conexión especial con una persona nueva y sentir que hay más personas raras como yo en el mundo por conocer, cenar con mi familia en un buen restaurante, ayudar a alguien con sus problemas y ver que su vida es un poco mejor gracias a mí, hacer reír a alguien, perfeccionar una postura de yoga, ver una película de Hitchcock antes de dormir … En esta pequeña lista desordenada de cosas que me harían feliz hoy podemos distinguir cosas más simples y otras más complejas, unas que me seguirán haciendo feliz dentro de unos años y otras que sólo ahora, unas que comparto con la gran parte de la gente y otras propias, unas que me hacen muy feliz y otras que sólo un poco. Y es que ser feliz es un estado mental que tú eliges experimentar, aunque pensemos que depende de las circunstancias, la felicidad está en nosotros mismos y somos nosotros los que decidimos cuándo, cómo y con quién la queremos compartir.
Hay distintas formas de ser feliz, pero la auténtica para mí, la más intensa y pura es aquella que experimentamos cuando servimos a los demás, cuando nos convertimos en un regalo para las personas que nos rodean. Darte a los demás y recibir su agradecimiento. En definitiva, la felicidad se encuentra cuando queremos a las personas y compartimos con ellos ese sentimiento.
On a day like today, I would be happy lying out in the sun and listening to Oasis and Coldplay, getting an unexpected call from a true friend of mine and talking with him about everything and nothing, eating an artisan pistachio ice cream while looking at the ocean, reading something curious and thinking that I am a little smarter (than I am), discovering a new city, losing myself and finding myself again, finding a special connection with a new person and feeling that there are more weird people like me to get to know in the world, having dinner with my family at a good restaurant, helping someone with his or her problems and seeing that his or her life is a little bit better because of me, making somebody laugh, perfecting a yoga pose, watching a Hitchcock movie before going to sleep … In this short and mixed up list of things that would make me happy, today we can distinguish both simple and complex things, some which will continue making me happy throughout the following years, others that will make me happy just for now, others which I share with the majority of people and other personal ones, some which make me very happy and others just a little bit. Being happy is a mental state which you decide to experience. Even though we think it depends on the circumstances, happiness belongs to us and we are the ones who decide when, how, and with whom we want to share it.
There are many ways of being happy, but the most authentic method for me, the most intense and pure form is the happiness we experience when we help others, when we become a gift for the people who surround us, giving yourself to others and receiving their gratitude. In short, we will find happiness when we love people and share this feeling with them.
Ein Mädchen das ich an einem viel zu kurzen Wochenende kennenlernen durfte. Von Anfang an war ich von ihr begeistert. Sie ist dreisprachig aufgewachsen: Englisch, Hindi und Sindhi, lebt nun in Spanien und spricht auch diese Sprache einwandfrei. Sie ist schon viel rumgekommen, hat in den unterschiedlichsten Ländern gelebt und ist sehr offen und interessiert an neuen Kulturen. Danke dir für deine so authentische Art!
This is a girl that I got to know on a weekend that went by much too quickly. From the very beginning I was quite impressed by her. She grew up trilingually (English, Hindi and Sindhi) and now lives in Spain where she has also learned to speak Spanish fluently. She has travelled far, seen many places, lived in different countries, is very open minded, and is always interested in new cultures. Thank you for being such an authentic person!
क्या है सुख मोरे लिये
वह मनुष्य जो एक जगह पर पांच(५/5) साल से ज्यादा रहा हो, जिसे बचपन से सफर कि आदत है, मेरी खुशी है घर रहने मे। पर इस सबमे मैने यह सिखा है कि घर वह है जिस्के भितर अपने हो, ना कि चार दीवारों मे। खुशी उस्मे नही कि वह तुम्हारे क्या कर सक्ते है बलकि इस्मे जो तुम उनके लिये कर सको। मेरे लिये सबसे बढकर यह है कि मेरा परिवार और मेरे दोस्त( जो परिवार कि तरह है) सुखी और सेहतमंद रहें और उसे कायम रखने मे मेरा पुर्ण सहभाग रहे। पर एक प्याला जाम, कुच स्वादिष्ट खाना, मंगलमय संगीत और छुट्टीयों मे क्या हर्ज़ है।
What happiness means to me as a person who has rarely been in the same place for more than 5 years and has travelled since a young age, my happiness is feeling at home. But the thing is, I have learnt that home is where your people are rather than a physical place. Also, it’s not about what your people can do for you, but what you can do for them. To me happiness is knowing that my family and my friends who are like family are happy and well and that I’m doing everything I can to the best of my abilities to contribute to this. Of course, a good bottle of wine, some good food, music, and a bit of traveling doesn’t hurt either.