Happiness

I've always believed that you have to work for happiness. I don't know if the idea is right or not, or how the idea rooted itself in my head, but the concept that happiness won't find you if you're not looking has been with me for quite a while.

It seems like there are so many problems that we can encounter in life that things won't go your way unless you make a deliberate attempt to line up your life towards happiness. It's like the ant who prepared all summer for the winter. You'll run out of food if you don't prepare, like the grasshopper.

But recently I've wondered if I'm laboring under a false premise. Some of the happiest things I've found have occurred WITHOUT planning. I never would have dreamed that I would live IN Boston (a dream I'd had right after college and rejected out of fiscal realism).

So perhaps happiness just happens. But I have to question, is living in Boston like the grasshopper who ran out of food in the winter? Will my happiness run short without better planning? And if so, should I care?

Should I bask in the light of happiness while it's with me? When happiness leaves maybe we'll just migrate. Other proverbs say that you shouldn't worry about the future, leave tomorrow's worries for tomorrow, and that sort of idea.

All I know is that I like a plan. I like goals. I like knowing what I want out of life.