Pie in the Sky

What is happiness? Are you happy? The answer to these questions is one of those "You'll understand some day" things your father or mother used to spot off while they themselves were in the mist of chasing happiness. Are we really to believe one can imagine what total fulfillment is? Maybe the quest for joy has something to do with embracing change, choosing happiness or following your dreams. But one thing is for sure, we are consumed by the pursuit of happiness. That's too bad because it's the pursuit that prevents us from finding happiness or what passes for happiness. We are never quite happy enough, things are never good enough, we are never fulfilled enough or never have it all.
Too many people believe happiness is a birthright and there is a whole generation who thinks they are entitled to happiness. I hate to rain on the parade but "you do not get everything you want in life". One fifth of the population drinks too much and millions of others descend on Doctors for prescriptions of Prozac and Xanax when their plans don't work out. We are all raised on a brain washing of pie in the sky happiness but when happiness runs up against the hard truth of an unforgiving world a lot of people can't cope.
Life is not built around fun, it's built around peace of mind. The more desperate we are to find happiness the bigger risk is that we never find it at all. Maybe the search for that pie in the sky is really a marathon of sacrifice, self denial, compromise, forgiveness and conciliation. Maybe happiness is knowing when to quit and say things are OK just the way they are! Shouldn't that pie be big enough for everyone?