Happy Ever After

And why it's a silly idea, but what we have is so much better

You know that happily ever after you were taught to believe in when you were a kid? There's no such thing. There is an ever after, but it doesn't necessarily include you, and you don't ever experience it.

All you will ever experience is here right now.

And you probably have a lot of the things, have accumulated a lot of the experiences, become the kind of person you imagined you might one day become. That person exists. Today. Now.

It's you.

You could focus on the things you haven't got, yet, and be unhappy, or at best, dissatisfied, or you could look up from the vantage point of the kid you once were and say "Alhamdulillah!"

When I was a kid, there was a Suzuki GSX 250 parked up on a pavement in Lisson Grove. I was so excited that I decided to sit on it. My feet didn't quite touch the floor. So I started looking at bikes in magazines that had a low seat height, never imagining for one moment that the first motorbike I'd own a couple of decades later would have twice the capacity, or that the last motorbike I'd own would be a Ducati 999, one of the most beautiful pieces of automotive machinery ever made, and I still couldn't get my feet flat on the floor.

When I was a boy, my dad always dreamt of going to Japan. I went shortly after he passed away and sent him a postcard, hoping that his wish was at least fulfilled vicariously through me.

My parents were divorced and my dad never remarried. I prayed for a happy marriage and kids. It took some time, but I got there. I have the best family.

My blessings are countless.

My life is a series of unimaginable dreams come true.

The happy ever after was always there, and right here, in the now, all I can say is "Alhamdulillah!"