Happily Ever Now

We all grew up with many ideas thrust upon us, coming from family, friends, education and general life experience.

One of the most pervasive ideas that was floating around “back then” (and now too) is the notion that once certain things were achieved, and certain thresholds crossed, that one had a reasonable expectation of living “happily ever after.” This idea was applied to the personal front(re marriage or finding the right person), the education front( if only I could get into the right school…) and the career front too(once I snag that job, all is well).

However true those ideas may have been(and I am not doubting that they had some validity in the 1950’s…lol), the value of these ideas has been steadily eroding. I don’t want to say that there is no validity left to achieving certain milestones in life, but the big difference between now and then is that now, resting on one’s laurels has become the luxury of fewer and fewer people, and in some circumstances it can be downright dangerous.

This is because our society has now put its weight and full force behind the idea of constant change. That said, it becomes much more of a challenge for each of us to achieve a measure of happiness and balance in our waking moments But I definitely believe that it is not only possible, but that it has become one of the most important goals that we should seek.

I like to call this personal goal: “happily ever now.” While it may sound simple, it’s not always so easy to achieve amidst all the “apparent turmoil.” By apparent turmoil, I mean the tumultuous nature of personal relationships these days; the volatility of the major markets(housing, stock and job). But “happily ever now” can be achieved in some surprising ways. It can be as simple as going down to the river to watch the sunset, or lingering over an especially good lunch, or not exposing yourself to so much gossip that often has a negative edge to it. It may also be achieved by throwing out the idea that tomorrow is always going to be better- it’s today that we have and we better make the most of it, or it’s our loss, nobody else’s.

So while it’s important to have long range goals that sometimes require small or great sacrifices, take some time during your day to look around and enjoy what your have right now- you might just start to feel better about everything.