Escapees July-August 2022

thoughts for the road

Happiness isn’t having a fairy godmother wave a magic wand to grant your particu lar goal. Yet, how often we play that game: “I’ll be so happy when I get married, when I have my fi rst child, when my last child leaves home or when the house sells and I can go RVing full-time.” Or “I’ll be so happy when I win the lottery!” Achieving a particular goal is no guarantee of perpetual happiness. Happiness is enjoying what we are doing today, as well as planning what we are going to do tomorrow. Happiness is not a person. It is not an event. It is not a “thing” you acquire. Happiness is an attitude you carry with you wherever you go and with whatever you do. It is accepting the realities of life no matter how unfair or painful those realities may be. It is enjoying where we are now, enjoying life moment-by-moment as we move ever closer to tomorrow’s goals. The only truly happy person is the one who doesn’t let the enjoyment of today get lost in tomorrow’s dreams.

EXCERPT FROM KAY PETERSON’S EDITORIAL PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN ESCAPEES MAGAZINE, MAY/JUNE 1986

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July/August 2022 ESCAPEES Magazine