This weekend my girlfriend and I went to Estes Park and while I was up there I kept thinking about how most of the people viewing the beautiful mountain vistas and partaking in the Elk Festival (don’t ask, it’s a Colorado thing)  seemed to be trying to escape their every day lives. This thought led me to wonder why  these people all around me were so exhausted by the lives they lived that they must ultimately escape them to keep from going insane.

The reason, I think, is a belief I have shared from time to time with the majority of people. The idea that happiness comes after success. That reaching some apex of achievement will lead to happiness. I have discovered this to not be the case. In fact, the sequence of events is the opposite. If you can be happy with what you have, the achievements you seek appear to come much easier.

If I find myself wishing to escape my life, changing my life becomes my   highest priority. I went to Estes to spend some time with my girlfriend, see the ever-awe-inspiring peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park, and to inhale some of that wonderful mountain air; I did not lament having to return to my life Sunday evening. I am happy with my life as a steadily chug toward being a full-time writer.