Destination: Happiness

The declaration of independence says something about the pursuit of happiness, which I take to mean that you have the right to seek it. In typical yankee ingenuity form, no mention is made of what one is to do to find it. I suppose you are supposed to make this up yourself.

This can be really hard. It seems the destination is spelled out pretty well, just not the path. So you do what you think is the next step towards your goal. Then you find out you chose the wrong action to take and you are right back where you started from, or worse. You do this over and over, picking up clues about which actions are wrong and right.

Hopefully you remember what you have learned along the way, and things get better more or less continuously. It doesn't always work this way though. Sometimes you take a wrong turn and go further than you thought you did before you realize your error. Retracing your steps doesn't always work since not everything is reversible. You have to find a new path, even though you may have no idea what that is.

With any luck, you have some friends to help you remember, to help you decide, and to share your happiness when you find some along the way; or perhaps more importantly, hold your hand when you need it. Make sure they are good friends; the kind that don't flee at the sight of trouble. They are your most important asset.