THIS POST contains the secrets of life and love and eternal contentedness:

I received an intriguing text from my cousin at the beginning of this month. We’d recently been having deep conversations, from analyzing Oscar-winning movies to mulling over relationships that appear to be unfixable. It read:

“Oh wise cousin of mine, tell me the secrets of life and love and eternal contentedness…”

I replied with a few laughs. That was the end of the conversation.

My flesh and blood reached out to me, and I laughed.

I laughed for a few reasons. I found the syntax and timing of the text message to be interesting and a little funny. I wasn’t sure if she really wanted my advice on the secrets of love, life and contentedness, so I laughed.

I also had not a single clue on how to reply, so I laughed.

Weeks later, I still haven’t responded to the request. We have spoken since, but not about anyhing as deep.

It’s been weighing on me. I want to reply. I want to share my view. I want to give my opinion So, here it is, or at least some of it:

I’m not an expert on love, life or contentedness, but I am an explorer of them. I spend a great deal of my time of this planet checking out the places, people, and things around me.

Love.

Love is a tricky thing. It’s an emotion, thus it’s going to change. You won’t always love your partner. You won’t always love your friends. You won’t always love your family. Heck, you won’t always love yourself. I think that’s the first thing we all have to realize and accept. Love is just like hate, anger, sadness, happiness. It is a changable feeling that sometimes we cannot control.

You will sometimes love someone and sometimes loathe them. To maintain a relationship takes more than this flighty emotion, the thing we call love. It takes dedication and the acceptance of knowing ones emotions are set to change. However, the dedication to the relationship, to growth, to partnership, to goals these are what makes it continue.

I believe in accepting your emotions for how they present themselves, expressing the emotions you deem necessary in a safe way and safely receiving the emotions that are expressed to you. We all yell, scream, cheer, laugh and sigh at one point or another. Accept that. Dedicate yourself. Move on.

Life.

Like the two others, this topic is too complicated for a text, a phone call or blog post.

The cliche is there. What is the meaning of life? I don’t know. I’m just another thing floating around this planet doing the thing until I no longer can do the thing, and then who knows.

I will just say this about life: It’s a roller coaster, with ups and downs of emotions, people, animals, adventures and boredom. I don’t advise anyone to waste it. Binge watch those shows. Take that trip across the planet. Pick your nose and fling it. Do what you have to do to walk another day. If you’re happy, be happy. If you’re sad, be sad. Be true to yourself, but don’t squander your time here with the creatures who surround you.

Contentedness.

This is my favorite. I have spent my adult life hunting for this sucker, even after I’ve found it.

I love this word more than “happiness.” Contentment is my goal, even after I’ve reached a level on contentment. It’s kind of like relationships or love and other emotions in the way that it’s changeable and you have to be active in it and dedicated to it.

I view contentedness in a multitude of ways that boil down into two main parts.

Positivity and activity.

Find people, places and things that promote positivity. A positive attitude, a positive person, and a positive place will breed positivity. Perhaps not in the first moment, maybe not in the second, but in time positivity will be in you if it surrounds you.

Find things that make you happy. I don’t necessarily mean tangible objects, people, or animals (sometimes those help and sometimes those hinder). I also mean finding activities that excite, inspire, bring happiness to you. We need variety. Go to a zoo, fly a kite, watch a movie, meditate.

Do things.

Keep your body and mind moving in positive surroundings and you might just find yourself in a place of contentedness. Once you reach the place, keep doing it.

Love, life, and contentedness aren’t a one-time thing. They are all unstable. They all change. They all need growth. They all take dedication.

Dedicate to yourself and then dedicate to others.

Megan Andreuzzi is an animal lover and a traveler from the New Jersey Shore. She earned a degree from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, USA in Liberal Studies with a dual concentration in writing and a minor in theatre.