Name one thing, big or small, that you could change about your life to be happier.

I don’t really fret all that much about what might have been or what could be. Sometimes, I pull out my past like a dusty old book, open the pages at random and think to myself, well, I would have done that differently. However, at the time, there’s no way I could have nor would have done things any differently because I didn’t have the experience to know any better. Sadly, humans aren’t prescient. We mostly know the right thing to do only in hindsight. It’s how we learn. The only reason you are able to objectively look at your past and spot the mistakes is because you made them.

Would I do anything differently? To be honest, I probably would, so it’s a very good thing I don’t have the option. If I went fiddling about in my past, I’m sure I’d muck things up. Like a house of cards, you take one thing away and the whole structure changes. So, forget the past. Take from it what you can and move on.

But what about the present? Would I change anything at present that could make my life better? I might like a job that pays me better. I might like a job that has health insurance and benefits and whatever else it is that other people in other industries get. A little bit more money would be nice, but would it make me any happier? If I had more money, I could pay down my crippling debt so that I don’t have to fret about it anymore. Removing worry isn’t the same thing as being happy though. Just because you’re not worried about one thing, that doesn’t mean that you’re any happier. People always find something to complain about. It’s human nature. We gripe and moan and whine about everything, even if everything is swell.

There are things in my life that make me very happy. They are things that money, if I had any, wouldn’t really change for the better. There are many great things in my life right now that make me very happy indeed, e.g. my wonderful, hilarious friends with whom I shared steak and off-color stories last night, the sight of my dog’s tail wagging when I come through the front door, crawling into bed between a warm, snoring man and a warm, snoring dog, bubble baths, fresh air, a cat sleeping on my feet, clean sheets, writing things like this thing I’m writing now outside in the sun in the middle of February. Would money make any of that better? Nope. Those things are all free, but I have earned them. They’ve all come to me through a rather random series of events I like to call life. I’ve earned the right to keep them and I wouldn’t change a thing.