Today's Pearl Of Wisdom:

"Remember that the bad choice you made is because you had the freedom to choose."

From fortune cookies to the PHD's novel, the message about what is important in life remains the same, that what has true meaning here is not the destination but the ability to experience the process, in all it's wonder, surprise, enlightenment and wisdom. No one comes to this world with a map of how to navigate your way to happiness, but what you ARE given is the freedom to experiment with everything that COULD be. What happens in that experimentation sometimes feels quite the opposite of happiness, however, through that experience, life unveils another piece of that map and we are able to take a few more steps toward it. The pessimist will see this as life's cruelest joke. The optimist will conclude that there are crucial rights of passage that cannot be missed which only happen as a result of coming to this world with no navigational plan toward joy. What would your life have been like if you had no choices in this regard? What if you took a straight road to happiness? (Um, boring?) What do you think you would have missed? Who wouldn't you have met? What experience or knowledge would you have had to sacrifice? What beautiful place would you have skipped? Don't lament over what you think were mistakes, or wrong choices. Celebrate that all of them brought you gifts that are as much a part of the happiness you hold today as anything else that is more obvious.