Happiness for Beginners

by Katherine Center

Happiness is more about appreciation than acquisition.”

“I gave you Jake because you’re headstrong and accident prone, and he’s our medic and I trust him to patch you up. I gave you Jake because you’re the best map reader we’ve got, and he’s damn near blind. And I gave you Jake because you absolutely never believe in yourself—and he finds a way to believe in you every damn day.”

I had finally come to understand that not getting what you want is actually the trick to it all. Because not getting what you want forces you to appreciate what you already have.

I finally got that if you were always in a state of longing you could never truly get satisfied,

“But it’s okay. He taught you something. He taught you how to let somebody love you a little bit. That lesson right there is enough to change your life.”

But the things we remember are what we hold on to, and what we hold on to becomes the story of our lives. We only get one story. And I am determined to make mine a good one.