One Day at a Time

It was many years ago. I was a young dad sitting on the couch reading a fairy tale to my little girl. She sat next to me with her head on my arm as I told the tale. When it came to the end I finished with those famous words: “And they lived happily ever after.” As I looked over to her with her wavy, brown hair and big, innocent eyes I could see the smile on her face and I never wanted it to end. It dawned on me then that the ending of the book was what I wanted for her. I wanted her to “live happily ever after.”

Still, deep in my heart I knew that this couldn’t always be so. I knew that there would be times when her heart was broken. I knew there would be times when she cried in grief and I couldn’t comfort her. I knew there would be times when all she felt was fear, sadness, sorrow, and despair.
As I stroked her hair and smiled at her I hoped that those times would be brief and that she would have joy in her life more often than not. Living happily ever after, though, seemed out of the question.

It took me a lot of years to realize that it IS possible to live happily ever after. You just have to do it “one day at a time.” Happiness you see isn’t some reward that you get at the end of your journey. Happiness isn’t something dependent on what life hands you. Happiness is something you create in your life choice by choice and day by day.

The truth is happiness comes when you love and love is not a slave to circumstances. Love is a gift from God. It is love that mends broken hearts. It is love that heals grief. It is love that defeats fear, soothes sorrow, and brings light to darkness. It is love that gives us joy. It is love that connects us to God and brings us back to Heaven. Choose to love today then! Choose to “live happily ever after, one day at a time.”

Joseph J. Mazzella