Couldn't be Happier

I just came back from St. Louis where I saw Wicked. It was as amazing as the reviews have said, if not more so, and I was very pleased with the casting. Ben and Jesse went with me... and so did Mark. It was a great time, and Mark made me feel really good. I don't know what that will mean for the future, but it was really nice being there with him.

One of the themes in the musical that I really like is apparent in the song "Thank Goodness." Glinda is singing about how happy she thinks she is on her engagement day. 

"That's why I couldn't be happier
No, I couldn't be happier
Though it is, I admit
The tiniest bit
Unlike I anticipated
But I couldn't be happier
Simply couldn't be happier
Well - not "simply":
'Cause getting your dreams
It's strange, but it seems
A little - well - complicated
There's a kind of a sort of : cost
There's a couple of things get: lost
There are bridges you cross
You didn't know you crossed
Until you've crossed
And if that joy, that thrill
Doesn't thrill you like you think it will
Still - 
With this perfect finale
The cheers and ballyhoo
Who 
Wouldn't be happier?
So I couldn't be happier
Because happy is what happens
When all your dreams come true
Well, isn't it?
Happy is what happens
When your dreams come true!"

It is so easy for us sometimes to convince ourselves of the road that we are on, the bridges that we cross, in order to reach some mythical dream. We seem willing to put up with almost anything to get there. This is why people are so willing to work at jobs that they hate. Don't get me wrong, dreams are good, but I don't think that they are what we can live for.

I think that dreams should guide us, but we have to be happy with the road we are on. It isn't worth sacrificing our happiness, or the people in our lives for something in the future, because as this song so eloquently illustrates, we can find that our final destination (assuming we reach it) is a far cry from what actually makes us happy.

Bottom line: Enjoy every moment of your life that is possible.