Happiness can’t be planned. It can be hoped for. It can be wished for. It can be dreamed of. But the more you plan happiness the more disappointing it is when it doesn’t happen the way you planned. I recall many times in my life when I thought certain things would make me happy, but they didn’t: food, people, diets, achievements, careers, possessions. The happiness I felt at achieving these things was fleeting at best and almost always disappointing in the end because they didn’t last. What did last were the experiences I still look back on with a smile on my face: the birth of my children; my wedding day; the day my mother and grandmother surprised me with a visit; the cross country road trip I took with one of my daughters; the sweaty adventures shared with my husband; the vacations shared with my family; the graduations of my daughters; the wedding of my oldest daughter, and so many more countless moments in time. None of these things were planned with the expectation of happiness, but happiness happened along the way. Happiness is out there waiting to take you by surprise. Seek it in all things, and ye shall be seized.