“Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.”
–William Feather
Happiness and sadness come to all of us during life’s journey. Nobody experiences perpetual happiness, and happiness is not distributed in equal portions to everyone, but nobody goes through life without some opportunities for happiness. Unfortunately, some people are so busy in their search for future happiness that they fail to recognize and enjoy the happiness that comes to them in the present. Far too many people fail to realize just how much potential happiness they have had until it is too late in life to enjoy it.
One of the potentially happiest phases of life for couples who have children can be that period when the children are growing up. Unfortunately, that is also often a very hectic period of life for many people who are suffering financial constraints and struggling to build a career. Too often, career building gets a higher priority than spending time with the children. Parents rationalize spending so much time on career building on the basis that they will have both more time and money to spend on the children once they reach a certain level of success. But childhood is but a moment in time and long before many parents are ready, their children become adults and begin lives of their own.
As we look back on our lives during our senior years, we do not want to have regrets over missed opportunities for happiness. We all spend some time thinking about the past and the future, but we dare not spend so much time that we lose focus of our reasons to be happy in the present. When happiness comes our way, we need to focus on it and enjoy it. There is nothing we can do to change the past and we are limited in what we can do to change the future, but the precious present is ours to do with as we choose.
Except in cases where we have recently suffered a major loss, such as the death of a loved one, we can be reasonably happy. People who have not recently suffered a major loss can be happy today if they make up their minds to be happy. I urge people who don’t feel they have reasons to be happy today to ask themselves, “What will be different tomorrow?” If you do not see a major change coming to your life in the near future, then I think that you should make a major effort to find happiness today. And if you figure out how to be happy today, despite your problems, you will know how to find happiness tomorrow and most other days for the rest of your life.
Think about it.
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Copyright 2025
Allen W. Smith
