Saying Yes to Joy: What My First 9-to-5 Is Teaching Me About Happiness

Before starting my internship at Expedia this summer, my life felt like a collage of chaos. Deadlines, late-night FaceTime's, campus events, spontaneous coffee runs. I didn’t realize how much I’d grown to love the unpredictable rhythm of college until I found myself stepping into something entirely new: a proper 9-to-5.

There’s something oddly cinematic about the first few days of a new job. You wake up early. You overthink your outfit. You rehearse how to introduce yourself in the elevator. But behind that fresh-start feeling, I found myself facing something I hadn’t expected. A kind of quiet. The kind that comes when the day slows down and the structure settles in.

It wasn’t bad. It was just different.

And that difference pushed me to ask myself a new kind of question. What does happiness look like when you’re waking up at the same time, commuting the same route, sitting at the same desk for weeks on end?

Building a Routine That Doesn’t Drain Me

In the first week, I noticed a shift. Without even meaning to, I began to design my days more intentionally. I’d play music while I got ready in the morning. Sometimes it was upbeat, sometimes slow and grounding, depending on what I needed to hear. I started finding joy in the little transitions. The walk from the bus stop. The sunlight on my desk. The quiet moments between meetings.

After work, I’d push myself to move my body. Not out of pressure, but because it felt good. Some days it was a full workout. Other days it was just stretching and laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. And somehow, even that was enough.

But the biggest mindset shift came from a simple rule I made for myself. Say yes to life more than you say no. Especially here. Especially now.

I’m only in Seattle for eight weeks. Eight Mondays. Eight Friday nights. Eight chances to say, yes I’ll come, even when I’m tired. Especially when I’m tired.

Because I’ve learned that joy doesn’t always wait for you to feel rested. Sometimes it shows up unannounced. It might be at a last-minute dinner plan, on a walk to a concert venue you’ve never been to, or in the Uber ride with new friends who feel like they’ve been in your life for much longer than they have.

The Hidden Curriculum of Adulthood

There’s a kind of wisdom you earn just by showing up to your own life every day. No one teaches you how to balance structure with spontaneity. You learn by doing. You learn by messing it up. You learn by realizing that happiness isn’t something you find after work. It’s something you fold into it.

This internship has taught me a lot about Expedia, of course. About teams, tools, workflows, and corporate acronyms. But more than anything, it’s taught me about myself. I’m learning how to grow into a new rhythm without shrinking who I am.

I’m still figuring it out. Still learning how to listen to my body, how to carve out space for movement and stillness, and how to say yes even when Netflix is calling my name.

But for now, I’m grateful. Grateful for the music in the mornings. Grateful for the tired feet after a long walk home. Grateful for the chance to learn that happiness doesn’t always have to be big. Sometimes, it’s just about showing up again and again for the life you’re quietly building.

- Written by: Suhana Challa, Mindful Founders Inc. Board Member