Wish List

Summer's over. The leaves are burning crimson on the trees and, on our nightly walks, the chill in the air forces us to pull our jackets tighter around our bodies just to stay warm.

Oh, and school is starting again.

Lately I've been thinking. A lot. Wondering what the heck I'm doing going back to college. I'm 34 years old. Technically, I'm a grown up. By society's standards, I should already be situated comfortably in my job, in the career field of my choice. Chris and I should have already popped out one kid - if not two - and, because said children need to spend time with family, we should be spending our one free week a year vacationing back in Iowa, where we grew up. I should be making decent money (as opposed to no money at all) and we should be busy planning for our kids' futures, our retirement and our next big purchase. Like a boat, or something.

That, however, is not our life.

I'm going back to school because I couldn't bear the thought of working one more job that ripped apart my soul. I couldn't spend one more day doing something that I hated; refused to spend one more night dreading the morning.

Chris and I have pushed society's wish list aside so that we can create our own.

And what's on our wish list?

Happiness.

That's a pretty small list, huh?

Our wish list doesn't contain expensive trips, a five bedroom McMansion, or even a white picket fence encompassing the 'perfect American family'. It doesn't list the newest electronic gizmo (I still don't have an active cell phone) or a vehicle straight from the 2012 production line.

Now, I'm not going to be so Buddha-like and pretend that I wouldn't accept any of those things if they were offered to me. Because I probably would. A few of them, at least. (After all, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty MW3 Edition is soooo choice!) And some days we'd love nothing more than to be parents to two adorable kiddos. (Mia Lisette and Samuel Dean, respectively.) :)

But let's face it. If we couldn't be happy until we got those things?? Well, let's just say we'd be living in an unfulfilled state of depression and lack for a long, long, loooong time.

Happiness, however - that's something we can have. Right now. Happy is something that we can be. At this very moment.

The sky is gray. Night closes in earlier these days. The air is crisp and cold.

And we're... happy.

__________________

"If you want to be happy, be."
-- Leo Tolstoy