Happy Endings

I have been cooped up in the house a lot lately and it got me to thinking recently about another time I was house bound.  I was only a small boy still living with my family in my Nana's old home.  It was the middle of Winter and a blizzard had hit canceling school.  When I went outside to play, however, I was disappointed.  The waist deep snow was too heavy to move around in and the bitter January cold cut into me like a knife.  

I quickly headed back inside, grabbed a book, and settled into my favorite spot, the chair right across from the stove.  I got comfy with my dog at my feet and started to read.  It was an adventure story full of danger, excitement, plot twists, ups and downs, and everything else.  It sunk its hooks into my imagination and I read page after page until finally I reached the happy ending and closed the book with a smile.

I grew up, started to live my life, and began to write myself, however, I realized that there really were no happy endings in life, at least not in the way that book said.  There was no magic point in which after going through so many trials all of our problems disappear.  In truth, each time we seem to solve one problem in our lives another pops up to take its place. Life is really one long series of things we have to face, learn from, and overcome.

Happiness I found wasn't something that we got as a reward after doing or achieving something.  Happiness was something we created within ourselves, one day at a time. Happiness came from the love we shared, the good we did, and the lives we lived.  

God loves us all so much and God wants us to be happy.  We won't get happiness from a problem free life, though.  We will get it when we face every problem in life with love in our heart and faith in our soul.  Give your love to the world then!  Share your kindness and joy with everyone you meet!  Then each day of your life will be your happy ending.

Joseph J. Mazzella