Don’t Worry, Be Happy

I like to read. A lot. Always have and always will. I confess I lean towards more mass market novels than highbrow novels. There was a time where I actually felt guilty about it.

A book doesn’t have to be written by a critic’s darling to be worthwhile or to have a valuable message. Some of my best a-ha’s came from mass market novels about vampires. Yeah. I said vampires. But my most recent a-ha came from a book on werewolves. Just go with it.

There is a sentence in Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten that I keep coming back to again and again.
“…the thought of growing up in a world where someone thought so much about your happiness and so little about what you accomplished in life.”

Wow. What an idea. A life where happiness outshines accomplishment. It must be quite wonderful. I don’t think my parents care more about my accomplishments (although they appear quite pleased by my accomplishment thus far which I do appreciate) then my happiness. But as a society we often teach happiness stems from our accomplishments.

But what if it doesn’t? What if a person went through life accomplishing nothing earth shattering beyond being extremely happy with their life? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? We could stop chasing after things we think will bring us happiness and instead focus on what really does.

I believe in goals. And dreams. But I want to be make sure the goals and dreams I set for myself are for me. And not for you. Or you. Or you either. But for me and my happiness. Because I do believe when our end comes – we won’t look at our accomplishments but how happy we were. And I want to look back on a lifetime of happy memories.