We often tell ourselves, “Once this happens, I’ll be happy.”

Once I get the job. Once I earn more. Once I find the right person. Once I move somewhere better.

Then the moment arrives, we celebrate and start wanting something else.

There is nothing wrong with having goals. But if happiness is always waiting at the next milestone, we can spend years missing the life happening in between.

Perhaps happiness is less dramatic than we imagine. It can be a peaceful morning, a conversation that leaves you lighter, a prayer that calms you down or simply a day when you don’t feel the need to escape your own life.