A cup of tea.
Not a rush. Not a distraction. Just a pause long enough to arrive in the day.

A simple question.
Am I happy today?
No analysis. No bargaining. No comparison to yesterday or tomorrow.

A consistent answer.
Yes.

This is not optimism and it is not denial. It is orientation. The answer sets a frame before the world has a chance to do it for me.

That is how meaning accumulates.
Not through grand events or dramatic turning points, but through small, deliberate acts that are repeated until they become familiar, and then invisible.

And that is how identity takes shape.
Not as a label or a story told after the fact, but as a pattern of choices made in ordinary moments. Each repetition reinforces a quiet claim: this is how I meet the day; this is who I am.

***